The Comenius/Grundtvig in-service Training Grants January 2012

Below  find  the email as a reminder of the Comenius/Grundtvig in-service training grants application, which will expire on January 16, 2012 please:

Dear colleague,

We would like to remind you and your colleagues that the deadline of the LLP National Agencies to apply for  for the below specified courses will expire on the 16th of January 2012.
1)EFFECTIVE USE OF WEB-BASED APPLICATIONS IN TASK BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING.  (Comenius/Grundtvig code: NL-2012-266-002). Dates and location: 1st to 8th of July 2012, to be held at the Katholieke Hogeschool Brugge-Oostende, Bruges, Belgium.
2) INDUCTION AND GUIDANCE OF NEWLY APPOINTED TEACHERS. (Comenius/Grundtvig code: NL-2012-264-002). Dates and location: 1st to 8th of July 2012, to be held at the Katholieke Hogeschool Brugge-Oostende, Bruges, Belgium.
3) DIGITAL AUDIO AND VIDEO IN LANGUAGE TEACHING. (Comenius/Grundtvig code: NL-2012-268-002)
Dates and location: 12th to 19th of August 2012, to be held at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
We strongly advise you and your colleagues to check your LLP National Agency specific procedures and to send us your pre-registration form 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 from you and receiving your application!
We wish you a a very positive 2012!

Yours sincerely,


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

Learning a Foreign Language

Learning a foreign language involves learning a lot of grammar rules and vocabulary and creating a conversational environment to practice them. It is different from learning a second language in some aspects: first, if you learn a language in its natural environment and have to use it as you need to do, that is called “learning a second language”, which can be accepted to learn a language naturally and unconsciously as we do while learning our own language. Second great difference is you don’t have to memorise a lot of boring grammar rules to speak it as you have to do to learn a foreign language in a country where that language is not spoken.

What’s funnier, you learn a lot of rules about the language but you cannot speak it yet. As you are far away from the country it is spoken, you are lacking in practising it. It will likely take your years to speak a language fluently without thinking.

If you are talented enough, that is, if you are a language person and you have a good memory, you can use lots of ways to learn to speak the language in an effective way. I am saying “to speak the language” because it is the last step in learning a foreign language but "speaking" is the first step in learning our mother tongue after listening and understanding phases.

Learning a new language plays a very important role in one’s life. As we learn a language, we also learn a new culture, new life views so it is almost equal to developing yourself. If you live in the country where that language is spoken, you are lucky but that does not mean that you don’t go to a language course, or get some tutoring to learn it well.

Whatever the case is, never give up learning a new language and do your best to practise it. As a simple example, don’t we all get pleasure saying “I love you” in different languages? So have fun while learning!

The Comenius/Grundtvig in-service training grants 2012

Here you will find info mail  about the 2012 Comenius/ Grundtvig in-service training grants sent to me by the director of programmes. I would like to share it with you guys with pleasure if you are interested.


Dear colleagues,

We would like to inform you that the pre-registration for the Comenius/Grundtvig in-service training grants 2012 has been opened for 3 of our courses to be held in the wonderful city of Bruges in Belgium 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 TASK BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING.  (Comenius/Grundtvig code: NL-2012-266-002). Dates and location: 1st to 8th of July 2012, to be held at the Katholieke Hogeschool Brugge-Oostende, Bruges, Belgium
2) INDUCTION AND GUIDANCE OF NEWLY APPOINTED TEACHERS. (Comenius/Grundtvig code: NL-2012-264-002). Dates and location: 1st to 8th of July 2012, to be held at the Katholieke Hogeschool Brugge-Oostende, Bruges, Belgium
3) DIGITAL AUDIO AND VIDEO IN LANGUAGE TEACHING. (Comenius/Grundtvig code: NL-2012-268-002)
Dates and location: 12th to 19th of August 2012, 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 16th of January 2012. 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 will check our mails and applications also during the Christmas break!

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 from you and receiving your application!
We wish you a merry Christmas and a very happy new year!

Yours sincerely,


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

Quiz for Bright People

This circling internet mail was sent by my friend Cheryl.
There are only nine questions.

This is a quiz for people who know everything!
I found out in a hurry that I didn't. These are not trick questions.
They are straight questions with straight answers..

1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends.

2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?

3. Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?

4. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

5. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?

6. Only three words in standard English begin with the letters ' dw' and they are all common words. Name two of them.

7. There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name at least half of them?

8. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.* *

9. Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter 'S.'* *




Answers To Quiz:
1. The one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends: Boxing.

2. North American landmark constantly moving backward: Niagara Falls . (The rim is worn down about two and a half feet each year because of the millions of gallons of water that rush over it every minute.)

3. Only two vegetables that can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons: Asparagus and rhubarb.

4. The fruit with its seeds on the outside: Strawberry.

5. How did the pear get inside the brandy bottle? It grew inside the bottle. The bottles are placed over pear buds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place for the entire growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.

6. Three English words beginning with dw: Dwarf, dwell and dwindle....

7. Fourteen punctuation marks in English grammar: Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point, quotation mark, brackets, parenthesis, braces, and ellipses.

8. The only vegetable or fruit never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form but fresh: Lettuce.

9. Six or more things you can wear on your feet beginning with 'S': Shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, skates, snowshoes, stockings, stilts.

Santa Claus and Your Wishes for the New Year

What would you like to have for 2012 from St Claus if you were asked ?

Today people are more interested in getting the latest model of products with advanced technologies such as iphones, ipods, ipads with diamond stones, laptops, 3D/HD products of all kinds, cars, motorcycles, limitless clothes and shoes…There are endless options on the market.

Do you think you would get  true happiness if you had all of these smashing things? Actually, they are not only teenagers’ but also others’ wishes  from different generations. Even small kids imagine having these instead of toys or games. Their hobbies and dreams have a close relation with technological gadgets. New innovations are the materials that they are after.

Nobody should ever forget the importance of human relations and spending quality time with your close friends, family members and even people that you are getting to know.

We should always bear in the mind that “Life is composed of conversations.” Without sincere conversations and dialogues we go nowhere.

For 2012 I hope all your dreams come true. And strong and happy relationships with people!

Countries, Nationalities, Official Languages

Here you can find info about the countries,their nationalities and official languages
(taken from learnenglish.de):

Country	Nationality	Official Language(s)
Australia	Australian	English
Austria	Austrian	Austrian
Belgium	Belgian	French or Flemish
Brazil	Brazilian	Portugese
Britain	British	English
Canada	Canadian	English or French
China	Chinese	Mandarin
Denmark	Danish	Danish
Egypt	Egyptian	Arabic
England	English	English
Finland	Finnish	Finnish
France	French	French
Germany	German	German
Greece	Greek	Greek
Hungary	Hungarian	Hungarian
Italy	Italian	Italian
Japan	Japanese	Japanese
Korea	Korean	Korean
Mexico	Mexican	Spanish
Northern Ireland	Irish	English
Poland	Polish	Polish
Portugal	Portugese	Portugese
Russia	Russian	Russian
Scotland	Scottish	English or Gaelic
South Africa	South African	Afrikaans English IsiNdebele IsiXhosa IsiZulu Northern Sotho (Sepedi) Sesotho Setswana SiSwati Tshivenda Xitsonga
Southern Ireland	Irish	English
Spain	Spanish	Spanish
Sweden	Swedish	Swedish
Switzerland	Swiss	French / German / Italian
The Netherlands	Dutch	Dutch
Turkey	Turkish	Turkish
The UK	British	English
The USA	American	English
Wales	Welsh	English or Welsh

Izmir

Izmir is a beautiful city on the Aegean coast in Turkey. It is the third biggest city in Turkey after Istanbul and capital Ankara. It is my hometown not my birthplace, though. I have been living here for a long time. The Bay, where it is located around, gives it gorgeous beauty especially at nights with lots of city lights looking like a pearl necklace. I have seen a lot of beautiful places around the world but I must say that Izmir is by far the most beautiful city in the world in my opinion.

The residents are also very warmhearted people and I believe I am lucky as I live in the best part of the city which is called Karsiyaka. It is for sure that the other parts of the city are also very nice, Bornova, Guzelyali, Hatay, Alsancak, Konak, Bostanli… The ferryboats that carry the passengers from a pier to another are like swimming swans in the bay.

I think all people like their hometowns as they earn their living, challenge and enjoy the life. Izmir is a place where you never think to move from but want to live for ever and wherever you go, you miss it.

They say ‘Never die without seeing Venice or Barcelona or Los Angeles or Las Vegas…’

I would like to add my city to this list:

Never die if you don’t see Izmir, Karşıyaka. It is a city worthseeing with its historical tissue, as well as its modern looking. You can find whatever you look for there.