Summer Schools in the US

Is the US still the dream country of most people? Well, I am sure it is. It is really worth seeing. Whenever I sit on a bench to have a rest and look, I am usually surprised to see a lot of different people passing by sometimes thinking if there are more than 4 main races. How beautiful those people of mixed blood are.You cannot see these extraordinary types so many  and so often anywhere in the world I guess.  The point is so many different rooted people have come together in this dream country and somehow have learnt how to manage peaceful co-existence. So colorful! So amazing! So incredible!    

One of the ways to visit this country especially for students is attending summer schools. I have been taking students abroad  as a group leader – chaperone for years. When you go abroad especially in charge of some children, it is important to know the quality of summer school and tour organisation. In  the US, Royal Language Training Summer School  is a good choice to me in terms of language practice and amusement. As we know each other well, we can handle any problems that may come up  easily together. You should also choose a summer school for yourself and get to know them. Have an experience. Maybe it is better to try other summer schools but as I feel more confident this way, I always  prefer the same summer school in  different states such as CA,VA, FL and trips to many such as NY, MD, PA WV, courses and trips even in Canada.So you see alternatives are in different places. Well, the name is  summer schools but we have joined winter tours of Royal LT to visit the universities in the US. I can't forget the one we had in 2007 winter, in that the first stop was NYC, and staying in different states, it ended in Miami in the Southern east. We had icy weather in NY below zero  but we swam in the ocean in Miami. The students had even an opportunity to watch an NBA game in Orlando. Fantastic!

You don't have to be a student to join the trips . Even the adults have alternatives at summer school programs.

Have a visit my favorite summer and winter school RLT at  www.rltusa.com or www.royaltur.org if you like.

Have a nice time in your summer school you choose! Believe me the memories will be unforgettable.

Apricot Oil for Natural Skin Care

The apricot is a delicious small yellow to orange soft fruit. It has a single pit inside and at the core of the pit is the apricot kernel which has vitamins and minerals. Apricot kernel oil is expressed by crushing the apricot kernel and cold pressing process. This oil is ideal for a moisturising and nourishing emollient for total skin care. It is used in skin care products. It is very effective for the delicate sensitive skin and it is a good choice of skin care oil for people with dry skin as it is readily absorbed, while the gentleness of apricot kernel oil makes it mild enough to use on the elderly.

Apricot kernel oil  is also used as a carrier oil, a base for aromatherapy mixtures. With the property of ready absorbtion into the skin without leaving an oily residue behind, it is an excellent choice of carrier oil for all skin types. It is well suited to skin care. For skin nutrition, apricot kernel oil is high in vitamins A and E and contains the essential fatty acids oleic and linoleic. All of these substances can make even irritated skin sooth and moisturize. Apricot kernel oil can keep skin smooth and flexible if you apply it regularly. Just apply the oil to the delicate tissues around the eye at bedtime, or use as an eye make-up remover.

Apricot kernel oil is also used in lotions, creams, and balms, as well as in soaps. It is frequently used in massage oils as well.

When purchasing apricot kernel oil for skin care use, make sure that it is labeled that it contains no preservatives, synthetic antioxidants or additives, and no solvents are used in its extraction.  

Apricot Oil should be packed in brown bottles to prevent the harm of the sunlight and air  and should be stored tightly closed in a cool dark place below 30 deg C.

Quotations

Before you speak, listen.
Before you write, think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you invest, investigate.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.
Before you retire, save.
W.M.Lewis

“Talk to the right man at the right time in the right place.”

“All is fair in love and war.”

“All love that has not friendship for its base, is like a mansion built upon sand.”

"Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow."

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country..." J.F.Kennedy

"What we do for ourselves dies with us - what we do for others in the world remains and is immortal" Albert Pine

"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people." E. Roosevelt

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." Henry Adams

"A man can only be judged by his actions, and not by his good intentions or his beliefs." Paul Newman

"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in
times of great moral crisis maintained their neutrality."
Dante

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed
citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing
that ever has." Margaret Mead

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." Einstein

"Opportunity is missed by most people because
it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."Thomas Edison

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.”

H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)

“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”

Friedrich Nietzsche, "On Reading and Writing"
German philosopher (1844 - 1900)

No Sooner… Than…/ Hardly… When…

No sooner .. than … or hardly/scarcely/barely …when.. is used in the meaning of As soon as…but when the sentence starts with them, that part is used in “invention“ like the question form and in the past perfect tense.

Examples:

As soon as I entered the room, I noticed her.

No sooner had I entered the room  than I noticed her.

Hardly had I entered the room when I noticed her.

As soon as he approached the house, the policeman stopped him.

No sooner had he approached the house than the policeman stopped him .

Hardly had he approached the house when the policeman stopped him.

Rewrite using the words in brackets:

1.As soon as he went into the bank, one of the robbers attacked him.(No sooner…than..)

2.She fell asleep as soon as she lay down.(Hardly..when..)

3.As soon as he stepped into the bathroom, the cell phone rang.(No sooner …than..)

4.He read the reading passage first. Immediately after that he answered the questions.(Hardly…when…)

5.As soon as he saw her , he recognised her.(No sooner… than…)

Answers:

1.No sooner had he gone into the bank than one of teh robbers attacked him.

2.Hardly had she lain down when she fell asleep.

3.No sooner has she stepped into the bathroom than the cell phone rang.

4.Hardly had he read the reading passage when he answered the questions.

5.No sooner had he seen her than he recognised her.

Idioms and Expressions

Idioms are the most difficult words to remember while learning a foreign language because they don’t have literal meanings, that is to say, the literal meaning of the word is totally different from the idiom, although it is the same word, the meaning changes with a preposition or adverb or another word. It goes without saying that even without an addition of anything the same word has a lot of different meanings in the sentence. I would like to give an example word and show some different meanings of the same word. Let ‘s study “TAKE” together.

Take (took-taken-taking) has a great amount of meanings:

1. To get; use; have(buy/rent); to remove from someone’s possession by stealing or by mistake

I often take a taxi to go to the airport.

She’ll take a shower.

We’ll take the apartment.

Can I take your pen, please?

Someone has taken my bike!!

Take the (bus/train), take a walk, take a seat, take medicine, take a bath

2. To obtain; recieve; accept

I won’t take less than $2000 for my car.

Take the blame,  take one’s advice, take a chance.

3. To get possession of; win :

He took second place in the race.

The city was taken by the enemy.

4.Subtract; remove:

If you take five from twelve, you get seven.

5.To carry from one place to another:

He often takes the kids to school in the car.

6.To need:

It takes a lot of money to buy a car like that.

It took me two hours to drive there.

The trip from Baltimore to Washington takes 55 minutes.

7.To unterstand; think:

I took his smile to mean yes.

Do you take me for a fool?

Idioms or expressions of TAKE

1.To Take (it) for granted:

To accept a fact without questioning if it is true.

I just took it for granted that you knew.

He never thanks me,he just takes me for granted.

2.To take place: happen

The story took place in London.

3.Take aback; to surprise and confuse

I was taken aback by his answer.

4.Take after someone; resemble

She takes after her mother.

5.Take(n) in

Don’t be taken in by his promises.

6.Take (something) out on (somebody):To express feelings by making someone else suffer

You have had a bad day, don’t take it out on me.

7.Take over: To succeed to

Paul will take over the chairman’s job after he leaves.

8. Take up: interest oneself in; begin to do

He has taken up writing and American literature.

Pre-registration Invitation to the Comenius/Grundtvig In-service Training 2011 Courses

I would like to share a mail of invitation I got to the pre-registration for the Comenius/Grundtvig in-service training 2011 courses in Çanakkale, next to Troy and Assos, Turkey, and in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. If you are interested in this opportunity to develop yourself in teaching, you can get the information from the mail and for further more from the website address www.amsu.edu and send your questions to the e-mail address below. Please check your National Agency for the procedures and send the pre-registration form, the deadline for the courses is Jan.,14, 2011.



Dear colleague,

We are very glad to inform you that the pre-registration for the Comenius/Grundtvig in-service training grants has been opened for 3 of our 2011 courses in the wonderful city of Çanakkale (next to the archeological sites of Troy and Assos) as well as in Amsterdam.
Please, find detailed information about our courses and pre-registration forms by following the relevant links. 
1)EFFECTIVE USE OF WEB-BASED APPLICATIONS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING. (Comenius/Grundtvig code: NL-2010-200-002). Dates and location: 3rd to 10th of July 2011, to be held at the Çanakkale University, Turkey
2) INDUCTION AND GUIDANCE OF NEWLY APPOINTED TEACHERS. (Comenius/Grundtvig code: NL-2010-200-002). Dates and location: 3rd to 10th of July 2011, to be held at the Çanakkale University, Turkey                                  
3) DIGITAL AUDIO AND VIDEO IN LANGUAGE TEACHING. (Comenius/Grundtvig code: NL-2009-181-003)
Dates and location: 7th to 14th of August 2011, to be held at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Please note that the Lifelong Learning National Agencies across Europe scheduled their deadline for summer courses on the 14th of January 2011. Therefore, we strongly advise you and your colleagues to check your National Agency specific procedures and to send us your pre-registration form from now on and as soon as possible.

We would also like to kindly ask you to, please, forward this information to colleagues and friends who might be interested in taking advantage of this opportunity.

Should you have any further questions or should you experience technical problems in opening the above mentioned web pages, please, do not hesitate to contact us at office@amsu.edu or Tel: +31 20 620 0225; Fax: +31 20 624 9368.
Looking forward hearing form you and receiving your application!
  

Yours sincerely,

Joanneke Lootsma
Director


T +31 (0)20 62 00 225
F +31 (020)62 49 368
office@amsu.edu
www.amsu.edu

The Amsterdam-Maastricht Summer University (AMSU)

P.O. Box 53066 NL-1007 RB Amsterdam The Netherlands

t +31 (0)20 62 00 225 f +31 (0)20 62 49 368

office@amsu.edu www.amsu.edu

 

Model United Nations, MUN

Model United Nations, also abbreviated as Model UN or MUN, is an academic simulation of the United Nations that is organised by mostly universities all over the world, mostly in the US and Europe and mostly for high school students. MUN aims to educate participants about civics, current events, effective communication, globalization and multilateral diplomacy. In standard Model UN, students take on roles as diplomats from A to Z of a member country chosen and participate in a simulated session of an intergovernmental organization (IGO) such as General Assembly or Security Council. Participants research a country, but not their own country, take on roles as diplomats of that country, investigate international issues, debate, deliberate, consult, and then develop solutions to world problems from the points of view of that country which is chosen by the org. body  from the alternatives –member countries of the UN- given by the participants. MUN is curricular in most of the high schools and it is also an extracurricular activity in some schools where the students choose to join MUN as a club.
Some financial aid is also given by the organisation  to the participants who are in need of money for travel, kind of  accommodation expenses during the MUN  conference .

Apart from this, eligibility mostly is based upon interest and knowledge in social and political issues, ability for debate, ambition to be a good diplomat, being able to afford all the expenses  for the conference held abroad. MUN is really one of the best  organisations for high schools all over the world. To be a participant at a MUN conference will surely contribute a lot to your personality, to your way of thinking analytically and see the college life closely for your future plans. Making international friends from all over world is a perfect addition to all the pleasures mentioned above. I attended a lot of MUN conferences held by Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins which were my wonderful experiences as a faculty adviser.I can say that the success certificate that you get from the conference is much more effective than the diploma.