Challenges make us stronger!

Saturday, July 16th

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” 
 Helen Keller

My trip back home appeared to be even more challenging than trip to Manchester. It`s hard to believe, but this 

time  Aer Lingus was late 35 minutes and  Ryanair on time. It resulted missing my plane. Yes, I can`t believe it 

myself, it was like a nightmare. I was in despair, wanted to cry, almost did. Managed to get one of the 2 last 

tickets for Dublin - Riga  17th July, paid 100 € extra. 

And making the best of it - took a transfer bus to the Dublin city centre and checked in for a night in Holyhead

(Bed and Breakfast). Called Ene and had a walk around Dublin - it`s a lovely city!

                                Ene has finished the first week of her language studies in Trinity College

                               River Liffey flows through the centre of Dublin

                                                     In the campus of Trinity College

Trinity College Campus is really big, full of impressive buildings

A lovely green-green lawn and people having a rest inside the college campus

Farewell Afternoon Tea at the Town Hall

Friday, July 15th

In the morning we had the presentations of our course projects and as our academic director Alan Mackenzie said they were impressive. Of course we were asked some tricky questions as well, a question to me was for example: how does this activity promote changing attitudes etc.

We had our photo taken with teachers and we were given our precious certificates. There were hearty moving huggings between all of us and I couldn`t hold back my tears ....

We had our farewell afternoon tea at the cafe in the Town Hall. Just before entering heard some Estonian spoken and greeted with "Tere!" 2 women.

The building is really impressive inside.

A view of the cafe

Tea with milk and scones with butter, cream or strawberry jam.

Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden)

Wednesday, July 13th

Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett was born in Cheetam Hill District, Manchester (24 Nov,1849)

She was born in a wealthy neighbourhood of Manchester, but unfortunately her father (who was an

 ironmonger) died only a few  years after Frances`s birth, their family business failed and they had to 

move  to a poorer  neighbourhood.

In 1865 Frances`s mother with children immigrated to Knoxville, Tennissee, United States.

Frances started writing short stories already in Manchester when she was 15, but most of her books 

have been published in States.

Later she also came back to England leasing a house - Great Maytham Hall, Rolvenden, Kent.

There you can also find " a secret garden" her book is based on.

There`s Burnett Memorial Fountain in Central Park, N.Y. depicting Dickon and Mary from "The Secret Garden" Couldn`t find any clues to memory plate in Manchester!

Having lunch at the local food Chez!

Tuesday, July 12th

Fed up with sandwiches, decided to try local English food! 

                                                    

A notice board explaining how local is local!

It was possible to have the food to go or in! I had it in and ordered a hot meal - a Pie with Mash, Peas, Gravy and  Chicken.  It was a kind of pie with chicken pieces and mashed potatoes + mashed peas

also some gravy added and really really hot! Delicious too!

This gorgeous purple sprinkling can contained forks, knives and spoons with a napkin!

The Gideons International

Monday, July 11th

There`s an evangelical church near our residence and attended a service on Sunday evening.

Ron Hyde from the Gideons talked about their activities and shared the Word.

The Gideons is an assocciation started by business and professional men and their wives. They are

regular church members and have accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord. By personal

example and witness they lead other people to faith.

They place Bibles in hotel bedrooms, beside hospital beds in wards and in homes for the elderly.

Personal copies are presented to young people in senior schools, to students in universities and

colleges, and members of the medical profession, police, fire and ambulance services and armed

forces.

There was a very talented piano player playing the songs of praise and everybody joined in reading

out the words from the screen. After service everyone was offered a cup of tea with milk. People had

a cosy chat.

I got a brand new Gideons small red Bible and it differs from an ordinary Bible with its Guidance

pages at the front of the book. Amazingly helpful for any case of life problems:

e.g. Psalms relevant for people who are bullied, choosing a career, considering a marriage,

contemplating revenge, coping with failure, doubting, envious, ill or in pain etc.

Wanna Learn Some Scouse English?

Sunday, July 10th

The word "Scouse" can have 3 different meanings
1. a stew, made from cheap cuts of meat, potatoes, onions and carrots
(an affordable and popular meal for those on low wages)

2. a native of Liverpool
(originally working people who lived on "scouse" mainly)

3. a dialect spoken by the inhabitants of Liverpool
(nowadays the most widely spread dialect both nationwide and overseas)

Just giving some examples of differences in vocabulary use:

1. See you at seven bells! - See you at seven o`clock!

2. Don`t axe me! - Don`t ask me!

3. Soft lad - a friendly name for a fool

4. Ta`- Thank you!

5. Are you a whopper? - Are you an idiot?

6. Tellin` ye`- emphasizing agreement

7. Sozz! - Sorry!

8. Skag Head - heroin addict

9. Sack it la`- Don`t do it! Stop!

10. Do one! - Go away!

11. Divvy - a stupid person

12. Chuffed - happy

13. Deffo - Definitely!

14. Come `ead - Let`s go, let`s do it!

15. Boss - very good, marvellous

16. Blaggin me `ead! - Lying to me!

17. Bail! - Go away! Stop chatting shit!

18. Ere! - Excuse me! (One more interpretation for "ere")

19. Mouth! - You are talking too much!

20. Grassy! - Informative!

And some really widely spread for anybody originating from scouse:

1. dead - meaning "very"

2. wanna - would like to

3. stoned - high on drugs

4. rob - steal (had no clue it`s come from scouse)

5. nicker - pound

6. mobie - mobile phone

7. fetch - bring

8. ace - Well done!

9. Hold on! - Wait a moment!

Intonation 

A sentence starts with a slightly whining intonation, rises questioningly in mid-setence, ending on a higher pitch.

Pronunciation

1. mid-word vowels changing sounds

e.g. love = luv or much= mutš

and there are more - the whole "science"

All that was dead grassy `o us!?
(Please comment trying to use scouse!)
Tellin ` ye`??

Liverpool - Birthplace of The Beatles

Saturday, July 9th

Liverpool`history dates back to the 1st century A.D. when a small settlement appeared on the bank 

of the river Mercy.

In 1190 the place was known as "Liuerpul" meaning a pool with muddy water. In 1715 the first

wet dock in Britain was built in Liverpool and profits from the slave trade made the town grow and 

prosper. By the way there`s the only Slave Museum in the world.

By the beginning of the 19th century 40 % of the world`s trade was passing through the docks at

Liverpool. It became one of the greatest ports in the world.

In 1939 Britain declared war on Germany and in 1940-1941 the Germans launched a series of air 

attacks (a Blitz)  on  Liverpool. Over 7,000 people were killed or seriously injured, lots of homes

 were damaged. Significant rebuilding followed the war.

  A part of Liverpool is located on hilly landscape.

                                              

         
           Chinese Arch in Liverpool - the beginning of Chinatown

A significant fact is that on October 9th 1940 during an air-raid John Lennon, one of the founding members of The Beatles was born. And it happened that four young men - John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney made their first appearance at the Cavern at 10 Mathew Street. Today it is the part of the trendy "Cavern Quarter" containing The Beatles heritage.

Our guide standing in front of the original Cavern door. The present Cavern Club occupies 50 % of the original site and proudly remains its original address 10 Mathew Street.

Tha Wall of Fame - the wall highlights the names of all bands who appeared at the club between 1957 - 1975 also including some of the contemporary bands who performed in the 90-s (Oasis, Dodgy)

This is the "Wall of Number 1 Hits" by Liverpool bands and artists including 17 Beatles` hits.

Eleanor Rigby Statue - dedicated to "all the lonely people" - the mythical sad figure in the Beatles`famous song

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=all+the+lonely+people+the+beatles

A sculptor called Tommy placed inside the sculpture: a four leaf clover for luck, a page from the Bible for spiritual help, a sonnet for lovers, an adventure book for excitement and a pair of football boots for action.

"The Grapes Pub" - just opposite " The Cavern" is the place where the Beatles used to sit  and sip their brandy.

In Mathew Street there are many other places named by the Beatles

Tha Empire Theatre where the Beatles performed in October 1962 as real stars.

By the end of 1963, "Beatlemania" hit Liverpool and the UK,  you could buy Beatles` caps, capes, wigs, hankies, boots and suites. Whenever they returned to Liverpool, the band caused a sensation.
Liverpool Town Hall - there was a reception for the Beatles on 10th July in 1964. And a quarter of a million fans followed them from the airport to the Town Hall  and welcomed them as they stood on the balcony with Lord Mayor.

Liverpool Cathedral - the largest cathedral in UK, also the largest Anglican Cathedral in the whole world, the bells being the highest and heaviest peal in the world. In 1953 Paul McCartney auditioned here for place in the cthedral choir but failed. In 1991 his symphony was played here.

Beautiful lavender beds

Hidden Gem

Friday, July 9th

At school there were 2 key words today : Learning styles (multiple intelligences) and Bloom`s 

Taxonomy. Our lecturer Alan Mackenzie is really obsessed with Bloom`s Taxonomy. He says that`s 

all you need to make your lessons effective and productive. Of course we had heard heard and 

unconsciously used it in the classroom too. But that was a real brain training for us - 

Knowledge - Comprehension - Application - Analyses - Synthesis - Evaluation

In the afternoon we took a tour of churches and cathedrals of the town together with Italian students.

                                      

This is Manchester Cathedral

Cathedral itself was built in the 19th century but parts of it date back to the year 700.

This is St.Mary Roman Catholic Church

(built in 1858)

The outside of the church is quite modest but there`s a real treasury inside.

                               The inside of the church. It is also called Hidden Gem.

        A Spanish student doing his summer job turned to us asking if he could help us.

The Town Hall of Manchester is also a very impressive building. We are going to visit it at the end of the course.

 In front of it there`s Albert`s Memorial. (It seems Victoria erected a monument to his husband in all the biggest cities.

Our Friday evening ended with dinner in an Italian restaurant together with Portuguese, Spanish and Italian teachers. An Italian teacher proposed and organised it.

Motivating Students and Project Based Learning

Thursday, July 7th

Today was a hard schoolday, no extra funs! We analyzed motivational strategies and shared 

experiences of using them in our classroom. And promoting learner autonomy through project-based 

learning. We have to plan our possible projects to be carried out with students! And on the last day of

 the course all participants must present their so-called Learning Action Plan including ideas what 

and how we are going to use the methodologies acquired here. Doesn`t sound a great fun

                             

Idioms and Reading-Reaction Journals

Wednesday, July 6th

Firstly some new language changes and contemporary idioms we discovered while reading an article from The Daily Mail

50 k - 50 000 £

 to keep the wolves from the door - to keep away hunger and poverty

to bulkbuy - buy in large quantities at a low price

the soaring cost of everything - dramatically increasing cost of everything

woes - worries or problems

to spalsh out on something - to spend without thinking

to be weary - to be careful with money

utility bills - not only trash, but also water and electricity bills

digs - students`residences

As you can understand the article was again on the current woes of the whole world, not just Britain!

READING-REACTION JOURNALS

It`s one of the many methods to enhance learner autonomy!

Once a week students know they have to bring along their Reading-Reaction Journals including the

 summary of a newspaper or magazine article(can choose themselves or you give the address of some

e-publication) and students exchange their information in groups. Firstly you teach the students how 

to make this summary, what kind of stages there are and then students can assess themselves their 

work including comments. And the teacher can write comments or assess finally.

I think paraphrasing seems to be  difficulty for nowadays children and they often tend to copy-paste

information from the internet. We were given a definite system how a direct copy can be developed 

finally  into an original explanation and what kind of footnotes you have to use.

Or alternatively they can write about their learning experiences once a week (reflecting), the teacher

 will comment on them.

Some Culture Notes!

Usually people  cross the street with red light, you are lucky if you can do it with green for 

pedestrians. It was very unusual for me at first, but now I don`t want to be the only silly-billy waiting

for the green light.

                                        

                                   

              I had fish and chips in the afternoon.

                       

English people like having meaningful notices everywhere around you.