ELTA Newsletter: November-December 2016 by ELTA Serbia Newsletter

ELTA

NEWSLETTER

Nov-Dec 2016 ISSN

1820-9831 (

ONLINE

)

ELTA Newsletter • November - December 2016 • Volume 10, No. 6

ELTA Newsletter ISSN 1820-9831 (Online) ELTA – English Language Teachers’ Association Nemanjina 28, 11000 Belgrade Serbia + 381 (0) 63 210 460 + 381 11 36 11 644 ext. 110 elta.kancelarija@gmail.com Olja Milošević, ELTA President serbia.eltapresident@gmail.com

Editor-in-Chief: Maja Jerković, Vocational Medical School, Zrenjanin, Serbia Co-editors: Branka Dečković, Vocational Medical School, Kragujevac, Serbia Milena Tanasijević, English Language Lecturer, Belgrade Metropolitan University, Serbia Zorica Đukić, The School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy, Belgrade, Serbia Bojana Nikić Vujić, MA, The School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy, Belgrade, Serbia Vicky Papageorgiou, ESL Instructor, Metropolitan College, Thessaloniki, Greece Milica Prvulović, PhD candidate, Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade, Serbia Proofreaders: Milena Tanasijević, English Language Lecturer, Belgrade Metropolitan University, Serbia Zorica Đukić, The School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy, Belgrade, Serbia Vicky Papageorgiou, ESL Instructor, Metropolitan College, Thessaloniki, Greece Editorial: Bojana Nikić Vujić, MA, The School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy, Belgrade,Serbia Maja Jerković, Vocational Medical School, Zrenjanin, Serbia Cover designer:

Marija Panić, ELTA - English Language Teachers’ Association, Belgrade, Serbia Website: http://elta.org.rs/elta-newsletter/ Send your submissions electronically to: newsletter.elta@gmail.com

The authors bear full responsibility for the content of their articles. ELTA Newsletter is published bi-monthly.

Send your submissions electronically to: newsletter.elta@gmail.com

Dear colleagues,

The holiday season is approaching fast and we have prepared a lot of interesting articles for you to enjoy these cold days. We have prepared an extensive list of Upcoming Events we hope you will attend and the reports of interesting events which already took place in our ELT Flash section. One of these reports is written by Aleksandra Jevtović and Dragana Andrić who represented ELTA Association at the 9th ELTAM-IATEFL-TESOL Conference in Struga, Macedonia. Read about European language day and the sessions held by Patricia Anđelković at Užice Grammar school written by Svetlana Gavrilović. There is also an interesting report about ECML workshop with a lot of interesting tools and ideas how to use them by Zorica Đukić. In the Feature Article section you will find information about the Shakespeare project at Sixth Belgrade Grammar School written by Sandra Plazibat. In the Lesson Plan column there is an idea by Hon Chong how improvisation/drama in ELT brings some very engaging ideas. In the First Aid Kit part, read about how to use distorted pictures by Larissa Albano. Our column Bookworms brings Business English Secrets with recipes how to present confidently and shine at business interview by Milena Tanasijević. In the Borrowed from section find out how to use the instant messaging app WeChat in class written by Kat Robb. For the end, we leave two stories, the fourth part of ‘The Duke’s Portrait’ by renowned Ken Wilson in our Creative Corner and ‘Trapped in the Dollhouse’ the awarded story by a student Luka Jovičić in our Students’ Corner section. Enjoy reading ELTA Newsletter, till our next issue! Happy holidays! ELTA Editorial team

ELTA

Newsletter November - December 2016

UPCOMING EVENTS ● ●

Conferences Webinars

CONFERENCES

* Call for papers still open for some of the conferences, check it out

✓ TESOL MACEDONIA - THRACE NORTHERN GREECE 24th Annual Convention: Teachers, Trends, Techniques: A World of Change Date: 11-12 February 2017 Place: Thessaloniki, Greece

For more, follow the link: http://www.tesolmacedoniathrace.org/ ✓ International IATEFL Slovenia Conference, I Teach therefore I Learn Date: 9-12 March 2017 Place: Terme Topolšica

For more, follow the link: IATEFL Slovenia

✓ TESOL Greece – 38th Annual International Convention – Keeping it Practical Date: 18-19 March 2017

Place: Royal Olympic Hotel, Athens, Greece For more, follow the link:TESOL Greece

✓ HUPE Conference

Newsletter November - December 2016

ELTA

Date: 24 – 26 March 2017. Place: Solaris Beach Resort, Šibenik For more, follow the link: HUPE Conference

✓ 51st IATEFL Conference 2017 Date: 4-7th April 2017 (PCEs 3rd April) Place: Glasgow For more, follow the link: 51st IATEFL Conference 2017

✓ ELTA Albania International Conference, "From the English Classroom to the real-life challenges and careers!” Date: 28 - 30 April 2017 Place: Elbasan, Albania For more, follow the link:eltaalbania

✓ 15th ELTA Conference Date: 20-21 May 2017 Place: Singidunum University, Belgrade For more, follow the link: 15th ELTA Conference

✓ 4th International TETA Conference Date: 16-17 June, 2017 Place: Bosanska Krupa, Bosnia and Herzegovina For more, follow the link: The 4th International TETA Conference

✓ 26th BETA-IATEFL Annual International Conference, Learning and teaching languages: Creating bridges to the future

ELTA

Newsletter November - December 2016

Date: 22nd – 25th June 2017 Place: Konstantin Preslavsky University of Shumen, Department for Information, Qualification and Lifelong Learning, Varna, Bulgaria For more, follow the link: 26th BETA-IATEFL Annual International Conference

✓ The 18th INGED International ELT Conference Date: To be announced Place: To be announced For more, follow the link:The 18th INGED

WEBINARS

✓ Macmillan webinars Macmillan webinars

✓ OUP webinars OUP webinars

✓ SEETA Webinars SEETA Webinars ✓ NILE Webinars nile-elt

Visit to Macedonia for the 9th ELTAM-IATEFL-TESOL International Biannual Conference Aleksandra Jevtović and Dragana Andrić Keywords: conference, representatives, associations, experience, presentation

The quality of an educational system depends on the quality of its teachers, and continuing professional development is key to sustaining and enhancing teacher quality. Attending, presenting at or organizing an international ELT conference is a unique opportunity to develop professionally and grow personally and is not to be missed. The 9th ELTAM-IATEFL-TESOL conference in Struga was such exact opportunity for us. It was a chance to learn from presenters and share our own expertise in turn, to meet like-minded peers, to interact with experts in the field and hear the voices of fellow professionals, some of which we are going to share with you. Organizing and coordinating a major event, making it run smoothly and making the guests from different national associations feel truly welcome is no mean feat but it is something that the ELTAM president Aleksandra Popovski Golubović and her team executed with great aplomb. Here is what Aleksandra has to say about that demanding task: ‘The greatest challenge was the number of participants. This was by far the biggest conference we have ever organized and I hope it will be even bigger in 2018. We wanted to make sure that all our guests felt comfortable and satisfied with what the conference had to offer. Different people, different tastes but if you want to have a successful event, you will make sure you cater for all of them. One of the most rewarding things was seeing so many teachers I have known for a long time and meeting new ones. Building personal relationships is essential for having a successful teachers’ association and that is why constant communication with your members is the key to increasing the number of members and taking a more active role in their professional development.

Aleksandra Popovski Golubović, ELTAM President, greeting the participants at the conference. The fact that the conference was held in a beautiful venue, hotel Drim, and at a picture perfect location, Struga and lake Ohrid, certainly enhanced the overall positive impression of the conference. Marija Džonova, the Conference Secretary says: ‘As part of the organisation, I was at first sceptical about the conference venue. We haven’t had a conference in Struga for a decade maybe. Skopje, as the capital was until now our best choice since all roads lead there☺. Well, I’m more than happy that we selected Struga this year. I think it contributed a great deal to the overall impression. Luckily, the weather was great, too. Strolls by the scenic Ohrid Lake and a bit of sightseeing round the picturesque little town gave the conference a special touch. In my opinion, Struga is an ideal venue choice for our future conferences. Representing ELTA Serbia was a privilege and a pleasure for us. As Reneta Stoimenova, BETA representative says: ‘At such events, I feel that first of all, I represent my country, and then the professional body that has sent me.’ It was an opportunity to liaise with the representatives from the associations of many neighboring countries and to compare the role that teachers’ associations have in the educational systems of our countries. For Dragana Andrić that was one of the best aspects of the conference: ‘The greatest impression, for me, was taking part in the panel discussion. That

was the first time I took part in a panel as an active participant. I was informed about the topic ‘Role of Teachers ’Associations’, and I had some things on my mind that I wanted to share with other teachers. I was relaxed and curious to see how it would all go, but when I entered the conference room and saw that there was an empty seat right next to Marjorie Rosenberg, the IATEFL President, I suddenly realized that this was no ordinary chat among the colleagues. I took the seat, of course, with some anxiousness and a lot of pride. I was able to mention all the wonderful opportunities ELTA Serbia has in store for us, the teachers, and to complain about how little the state supports and appreciates all the hard, but voluntary work we do.’

Dragana Andrić (ELTA Serbia), Marjorie Rosenberg (IATEFL President), Alenka Tratnik (IATEFL Slovenia), Ymer Leksi (ELTA Albania), Mark Andrews (SOL) – Panel discussion ‘Just being at ELTAM conference was a thrill for me,’ says Aleksandra Jevtović. ‘It was my first time presenting at an international conference, and you can imagine how overwhelmed and at the same time energized I felt. I was an ELTA Serbia representative, and so my workshop was going to reflect on more than just me alone. I needn’t have worried though – as the room started to fill first with friendly faces and then with the murmur of voices working on activities, I realized that, with the little help of my colleagues, it was going to be one of the best professional

experiences. That right there is for me the best part of attending an ELT conference – sharing knowledge and ideas with your peers and feeling supported by them.’

Aleksandra Jevtović (ELTA Serbia) - workshop Our experience only confirmed what we had known before. Whatever you need to do professionally – recharge your batteries, practice presentation skills, find new classroom ideas and resources or extend your PLN, a good conference is the answer. ELTAM conference provided us with all that and more, all in the most beautiful setting with the most wonderful hosts. We certainly hope to see some of our new friends from Macedonia and you dear colleagues and readers at the ELTA Conference in Belgrade in May 2017. Welcome! ***** Aleksandra Jevtović is a teacher and a teacher trainer working in ANGLIA Centar za strane jezike, Novi Sad. Dragana Andrić is an EFL teacher in Primary School ‘Heroj Radmila Šišković’, Smederevska Palanka.

Patricia Anđelković in Užice Grammar School Svetlana Gavrilović, Užice Grammar School

Keywords: Patricia Anđelković, talk, European Day of Languages, Užice

On 20th September 2016, Užice Grammar School hosted a very special guest from Belgrade, Mrs Patricia Andjelković, a Pennsylvania-born American who has been living in Serbia for over thirty years now. Her visit was the result of the joint efforts and a close cooperation of the teachers of English of all primary and secondary schools in Užice, but this would not have happened had it not been for ELTA Serbia and Kreativni centar Belgrade and their generous support and help.

Mrs Andjelković is an extraordinary woman: a retired French and English teacher, author of three books for children (Nobody’s Dog, Stella the Star and Mr Grumpy and Gruff, all published by Kreativni centar), translator (she has translated several short stories and books by Uroš Petrović including Zagonetne priče, Peti leptir, Deca bestragije etc.), photographer, blogger

(http://yankee-in-belgrade.blogspot.rs/), passionate traveller and much more. It was no wonder that the Užice teachers of English loved the idea of having her in their city.

There were two sessions on the same day. The first one was with about thirty primary school students, aged 10-12 who talked to Mrs Andjelković about two of her books, which they had already read, but also about pets, empathy, tolerance, how we are all different but still alike, etc. The author and her attentive audience exchanged illustrations they made appreciating each other’s work. In the evening, there was an interactive lecture on language learning and cross-cultural issues illustrated with Mrs Andjelković’s photographs taken on a number of her journeys all over the world which was attended by about 150 high schools students from Užice. Thus, in a pleasant and thought-provoking atmosphere, students and English teachers marked the European Day of Languages. Plans are already being made for Mrs Andjelković’s next visit to Užice or an enjoyable meeting somewhere else in Serbia. *****

Svetlana Gavrilović has been teaching English for over twenty years now. She is currently working in Užice Grammar School. *I certify that I have the right to publish these photos.

A Report on the ECML Workshop "Use of ICT in support of language learning and teaching" Zorica Đukić, Secondary School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy, Belgrade, Serbia Keywords: integration, pedagogy, ICT, tools, inventory, sharing

Three experienced and charismatic lecturers, Aline Germain-Rutherford, Pauline Ernest, and Sarah Heiser, led a group of teachers from Serbia through a two-day seminar “Developing Online Teaching Skills for the 21st Century Classroom” which was held in Belgrade on 7-8 October 2016. As the promoters of excellence in language education, the representatives of The European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe (ECML) fulfilled their mission in applying pedagogical principles in the "Use of ICT in support of language learning and teaching".

The advantages of ICT-REV (http://ict-rev.ecml.at/) and DOTS (http://dots.ecml.at/) projects were presented to the participants. In the world of constant change in the field of online teaching materials, it may be frustrating, frequently time-consuming, to choose the appropriate tool for the

classroom.

The

ECML

inventory

online,

interactive

materials

(http://www.ecml.at/ictinventory) with search engine filtering tools which offer options according to pedagogical function, language skills, type of interaction or some other criteria, might bring significant changes. The materials and tools have been selected, explained, adapted to different needs and different teaching contexts. Apart from making teachers' lives easier, the inventory provides short manuals on how to use the tools. Moreover, the examples of good practice are systematically presented and explained and offered for use to all teaching professionals. In a hands-on way, the workshop sent out one of the messages of the ECML mission, that pedagogy and technology must be integrated in order to achieve success in language learning. In the second part of the workshop, the participants were divided into groups and asked to design a language task. Then, they were to choose a digital tool out of the inventory that could help them in the realization of the task. They could explore it, adapt it, and tailor it according to their own needs, and with the added pedagogical value, they were supposed to record the creation in the wiki (http://ict-rev.wikispaces.com/) for further recycling.

Thanks to the Institute for the Improvement of Education that made this event happen in Belgrade, teachers from Serbia were enriched by the valuable experience. In a friendly atmosphere, with lots of reflection, discussion and exchange of ideas, the participants said goodbye to their lecturers whose enormous enthusiasm helped establish a new synergy. The teachers were invited to share their knowledge with their colleagues either by word of mouth or through their professional associations DSJKS and ELTA. ***** Zorica Ä?ukiÄ&#x2021; is a foreign language teacher, consultant, translator and ELTA Newsletter/MELT co-editor. She has been teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) for over 30 years, having taught students from 5 to 75 years of age. Currently, she is working at the School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy in Belgrade. She has participated in numerous seminars, webinars, and conferences as she has always supported the idea of CPD. Her main fields of interest are Drama and Music in ELT, critical thinking, grammar and vocabulary games, IT in ELT, Applied Linguistics.

A Story on “A Frame for Shakespeare” Project Sandra Plazibat, “The Sixth Belgrade Grammar School”, Belgrade, Serbia

Keywords: Shakespeare, project, 400 years, celebration

In the year when the whole world was getting ready to celebrate 400 years of Shakespeare’s death, I had an overwhelming, romantic idea to mark this anniversary in a modest way with my students. That idea led to another, and to another, and yet another until we had a list of 17 activities stretching throughout the whole calendar year of 2016. These events were supposed to examine Shakespeare’s work and figure in the history of literature, theatre and humanity in general and at the end provide us with a frame that circles the personality of William Shakespeare. Here I wish to share my experience with you, my colleagues, and at the same time present a project titled “A Frame for Shakespeare”. In the second school semester of 2015-2016, we started and carried out the first part of the project. Many subjects were involved, as well as a great number of participants, starting with the teachers of the Sixth Belgrade Grammar School over to associates from other institutions, to the students themselves who took part in this with a lot of enthusiasm. Preparation of these activities started during the first semester, and it implied a lot of designing and planning. These included teachers of geography, history, chemistry, musical culture, Serbian language and literature, philosophy, and art. Special credits go to our Art teacher, Uroš Tepavac, who came up with some wonderful posters for each activity.

For the needs of the project, there is a website designed on weebly.com platform address: www.ramzasekspira.weebly.com. There you will find all the materials, photographs and video footages as a permanent proof of what has been done. The project started in January 2016 with a ‘’Virtual walk through‘’ The Globe with the computer and projector set up in front of the school hall. Passing through the hall during the breaks, students could watch short video clips about Shakespeare’s theatre, birthplace, life but also hear the most popular sonnets recited by famous British actors. This activity was prepared by Sandra Plazibat and geography teacher Ana Kovačević. In February 2016 a video of Professor David Cristal’s lecture, organized by the British Council in London as a part of ‘’Shakespeare lives’’ manifestation, was posted on the site. This was only one of the activities with which BC marked the anniversary. The lecture was about the influence of Shakespeare’s work on the English language and phrases which are used to this day. It was an immense pleasure that our students could be a part of this world event via live stream.

A page with the most beautiful love verses of the Bard was dedicated to Valentine’s Day. If someone needed to make a declaration of love, there were the messages they could have used.

The third activity was a poster presentation called ‘’Britain and London in Shakespeare’s time’’ which was organized by our colleague Ana Kovačević. These posters contained pictures and texts about England in the 16th century.

Or,

you

can

take

look

these

you

the

link

http://ramzasekspira.weebly.com/februar-2016-britanija-i-london-u-scaronekspirovo-doba.html In February, the history teacher Željko Matić organized the fourth activity named ”Which English kings were dramatized by Shakespeare?”. The presentations on this theme were done by students Maša, Sanja, Nevena and Miljana, with their teacher’s support. Mr.Matić has written a beautiful introduction for this occasion. ‘’Shakespeare on Big Screen’’ was the first activity in March 2016. One of the classrooms was turned into a cinema so the students could watch ‘’The Merchant of Venice’’, ‘’Much Ado about

Nothing’’ and “Othello”. Trailers for these films and basic information on actors starring in main roles are on the site’s page. The second activity was a unique mixture of chemistry and literature by colleague Dragana Branković-Srzić, titled ‘’From poison to potion in Shakespeare’s plays’’ and it contained short performances of parts of ‘’Romeo and Juliet’’ and practical presentations of the making of Shakespeare’s favorite poisons. Students of the third grade were participants of this program, and the presentation is on the page. It might be interesting for you to see the Prezi presentations on herbs used to put Julia to sleep or kill Claudius and his entourage: http://ramzasekspira.weebly.com/mart-2016-od-otrova-do-leka-u-scaronekspirovim-delima.html April 2016 M onth of Shakespeare Symbolically, the biggest number of activities were planned for the month of Shakespeare’s birth and death. On April the 1st, at the school’s hall, music teacher Duška Kisin, in cooperation with professor Goran Mihajlović, organized an ‘’Evening of Sonnets and Renaissance music’’. Special guests were the ensemble of early music ‘’Joculatores Slavenses’’ of ‘’Josip Slavenski’’ music school with professor Ana Mladenović. Music of that period and the recited sonnets filled the air of the upcoming spring night, followed by the choir of The Sixth Belgrade Grammar school and Duška Kisin, the conductor. The presentation on Renaissance was done by Magdalena Marković. If

you

wish

see

the

entire

concert,

turn

http://ramzasekspira.weebly.com/april-2016-ve269e-soneta-i-renesansne-muzike.html

page of

the

site. An open class with “Hamlet upside down” theme was held on 4th April 2016 in the organization of Serbian and English language teachers, Danijela Vujisić and Sandra Plazibat. The colleague Vujisić gave a short description of this special class: “Interpretation of Hamlet (his indifference, activity, mind and two-faced personality) and some key motives from this work (sorrow, revenge, love, hate, anger, etc.) were showed through dramatized scenes. At the same time, the scenes were showed in corporate dialogue with film discourse. Movie scenes were taken from a contemporary film ‘’Hamlet’’, starring Mel Gibson. In this, we have brought together literature, film and theatrical performance on one side and English and Serbian on the other side, on the linguistic level. Students prepared the scenario for

this class by themselves using recommended professional literature on psychology, philosophy, theology and history of literature. Students who were a part of this class were mainly students of the fourth grade, already familiar with many topics and ideas involved. We have video footage from this class thanks to Anđela, our amateur photographer and a funny, “behind the scenes” video about the preparations. Here are some Gallery photos:

Take

look

this

class

http://ramzasekspira.weebly.com/april-2016-ugledni-269as-hamlet-naglava269ke.html ! Another problem, the eternal controversy ''Who was the great Bard: Shakespeare or Bacon?'' was dealt with by philosophy teacher Ljiljana Malović-Kozić. Co-author of this class was a fourth-grade student Jovan Gavrilović, and the participants were students of the final year. Proofreading of the scenario was done by Olgica Rajić, teacher of the Serbian language. In this class there were both arguments 'for' and 'against' Shakespeare and Bacon followed by monologues, modern art pieces, even modern music inspired by great literature. The whole scenario is on the page of the site, together with slides and photographs. We are proud of being guests with this activity at the Mathematics Grammar school and the ''Milutin Bojić’’ library from where we have the video footage.

The lecture “Eternal popularity of Hamlet” was organized by Sandra Plazibat in cooperation with the “Faculty of Philology” of the University of Belgrade. This lecture was held by our distinguished scholar of Shakespeare, Zoran Paunović, PhD., on April 22nd, a day before the very anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. We are glad that there were colleagues and professors of other subjects in the audience. This was a real treat for the real fans of Shakespeare.

You

can

listen

this

lecture

you

the

link

http://ramzasekspira.weebly.com/april-2016-predavanje-drzoran-paunovi263-i-prodajna-izlo382 ba-novi-logos.html May 2016 started with a public class organized by colleagues Aleksandra Jarić and Vesna Radović. This class dealt with two famous scenes, the balcony scene from ‘’Romeo and Juliet’’ as well as the scene from ‘’As you like it’’ popular as ‘’The whole World is a Stage’’. The participants in the adaptation of the famous balcony scene were Olivera, Radoš, Anđelija, Ana, and Aleksa - as narrators, Jelena and Marija – as authors of the adaptation of the original text. Famous quotes were recited in between two programs. Anja, Ana and Sara were in charge of music and artwork.

The biggest project, of course, was a theatre play ‘’A Midsummer Night’s Dream’’ prepared by the Serbian language teacher Tamara Krečković and the third-grade drama club.

The parts were performed by Mihajlo Milovanović, Lidija Milovac, Nikola Milovanović, Srđan Drecun, Katarina Veljović, Teodora Lalić, Aleksa Opačić, Stefan Aćimović, Bogdan Jevtić, Irina Magenhajm, Andrea Opačić, Ana Vraneš, Sergej Keser, Stojša Oljačić, Lazar Mihailović, Nikola Cvetković, Ana Đurčić. The opening night was at the Zvezdara Theatre on May 25th, 2016. The

professional

recording

available

http://ramzasekspira.weebly.com/maj-2016-pozoriscaronna-predstava-san-letnje-no263i.html The second performance raised more than 100.000 dinars for humanitarian causes on June 17th, 2016. During the whole semester,students of Ana Stojiljković were doing interesting posters with Shakespeare’s quotes. Those were put in front of the school hall and in the future, some will be decorating our classrooms. Students who wanted to add something to this project could do that by writing or presenting themes that interested them, about Shakespeare’s opus, life and work. These are posted on a page called BLOG, a nd there you can find more than 25 presentations signed by their authors! On the project site there is a page named ‘’Friends from Italy’’ for which we got the material from a colleague Teresa Vicenttelli from a Brindisi school. We got in touch with the school through EATS (European Association of Teachers of Serbia). Teresa shared her photos and a story on her visit to Stratford, a small town on Avon where Shakespeare was born.

Starting with March 2016 we have been a part of a big international project Shakespeare Lives of the E-twinning platform. Here we cooperate with schools from Italy, Slovakia, and Ukraine. The first assignment in the project was to present the city and the school the students come from. Anđela recorded and edited videos with the help of her friends from the second grade. The second assignment was collecting information about connections and influence of Shakespeare on literature and other forms of art in our country. Having done the research , Andrej made a Prezi presentation involving stories about 'Ulysses' theatre of Rade Šerbedzija, connections between Shakespeare and Laza Kostić, play ‘’Henry VI’’ by Nikita Milivojević, awarded in 2012 at ‘’The Globe’’, Miki Manojlović’s project ‘’Romeo and Juliet’’ in Albanian and Serbian

and

Festival

Shakespeare

Čortanovci.

Take

look

http://ramzasekspira.weebly.com/e-twinning.html Due to the lack of time during the month of June, the exhibition “Drawing Shakespeare” was organized in September by Biljana Bodiroga, another Art teacher at the school, as a warm welcome to students of the first grade. These works have won the first and the second prize and if you are interested in seeing more, visit: http://ramzasekspira.weebly.com/septembar-2016-likovna-radionica-crtaju263i-scaronekspira.ht ml

In October we dealt with costumes and make-up in Shakespeare’s theatre and his plays. There is a presentation on the costumes from an exhibition that took place in Moulin, France in 2015 and a Shakespeare-inspired collection by Valentino for Autumn 2016.

What we have ahead at this moment is a quiz titled “Shakespeare from our street” where students will show their knowledge on the topic of the Bard and his work and compete for valuable prizes. There is an invitation from our friends from Italy to meet in Verona in December and mark the ending of the e-twinning project Shakespeare Lives. We hope the plans will come true and that we will have a new story to tell after a hard year’s work! I hope that the story about our project draws your attention to how you can engage in interdisciplinary work with a lot of success and motivation if you have the right people and desire to see something through to the end. It wasn’t easy, to the contrary! But, the result is the immense pleasure of gathering so many people on a single topic who can, each in a different manner, shed new light on something already familiar. I am thankful to all my colleagues who took part in this to give our hero a new frame and to all the students who were building it for the entire year! *****

Sandra Plazibat has been enjoying teaching English for the last fifteen years. She holds an MA

degree and has a certificate of a Secondary School teacher trainer, which she plans to start practicing. She works at the Sixth Belgrade Grammar school, where she also graduated in 1996. She believes that a job of a teacher is to give students directions for successful learning in a positive, stress-free and creative atmosphere because that is where the best ideas are born!

Improvisation/ Drama for ELT: A Lesson Plan Hon Chong, Founder of Imagine Centre for Learning and Funnylicious Improv Theater Keywords: theatre, improvisation, drama, lesson plans

Can you use improvisation/theater based games and activities for teaching English? The answer is a resounding yes! And it's a lot of fun too! Many English teachers hesitate to use drama/ improv in the classroom. Teachers feel that they simply do not have the training or “acting skills” required to use drama games. Some also feel that drama activities require a lot of preparation and extra time to set up the classroom. Of course, some classrooms have chairs and tables that are not easily movable. Well, many drama activities can be easily adapted to fit any classroom setting. I’ve even done it successfully in meeting rooms in companies with business students! The funny thing is, we teachers are already natural improvisers and performers.

Remember that time when you had

to improvise a whole lesson because for some reasons your planned lesson didn’t work? You don’t need any acting experience. All you need is a positive attitude. Remember, if you don’t enjoy it, neither will your students. I would like to share one of my lesson plans with you, my fellow teachers. Feel free to adapt and use it as you see fit in your own classroom.

This lesson plan is suitable for teachers with

no experience in using drama or improv in the classroom. It requires no preparation and perfect for enhancing your teacher toolbox, creating a fun and positive learning environment or to liven up things in your classroom. If you use my lesson plan, do give me feedback on how it goes! Good luck and keep up the good work!

IMPROVISATION/ DRAMA FOR ELT HON CHONG

Learning Goal: Review past simple and continuous tenses English Levels: Pre-intermediate to Advanced Age groups: All Warm up – 7 to 10min Game: Zip Zap Zop (with irregular verbs) How to play: Ask students to stand in a circle. If it isn’t possible to stand in a circle due to classroom setting, ask students to form two lines on opposite sides of the room. They will stand facing each other. Ask the group to repeat the words “Zip, Zap, Zop” three or four times, all together. Someone in the circle (or in any line) starts (using hands, body, eyes, and voice to make contact across the circle/line) and say, “Zip.” Explain that the next person takes the energy and passes it immediately to someone else saying “Zap.” That person passes it on to another participant with a “Zop.” The game continues and the “Zip, Zap, Zop” sequence is repeated as the energy moves around the circle. Encourage all students to use their whole body to send energy and to make eye contact. They can send the energy to whomever they want but the goal is to include all players. Once the students get the hang of the game, use this strategy to review helping irregular verbs (see, saw seen…). Simply replace Zip, Zap, Zop with all 3 forms of an irregular verb. For example: Student A says ‘go’ and points to second student (B). Student B says ‘went’ and points to a third student (C). Student C says ‘gone’. Student C then points to a new student (D). Student D starts a new verb. Student D says ‘run’ and points to student E. The game continues. Variations/Applications: Try “Zip Zap Zop + Boing.” In this variation, a player can choose to raise both hands in front of their bodies at chest height and say: “Boing” when they are sent a Zip, Zap or Zop. When this happens, the move bounces back to whomever passed it. Thus the progression might sound like “Zip-Zap-Boing-Zap-Zop-Zip-Boing-Zip” etc. Notes for teachers:

IMPROVISATION/ DRAMA FOR ELT HON CHONG

1. Don’t forget to encourage eye contact as they pass the bolt of energy to from one person to another. Tell the students that they are responsible for the energy and message they are sending out. 2. Work to stay focused. There should be no pauses. Try to maintain a steady rhythm. The same when it gets to irregular verbs. If a student doesn’t remember or doesn’t know a verb form, they can use ‘boing’ to pass the turn back to the same person.

Lesson (part1): One word at a time – 30 to 35min Game: One word at a time How to play: Get the whole group to sit in a circle. If this is not possible due to the space, you can just tell the people to turn their chairs so they can see each other. Make sure you tell them that you are going to create a group story together. Begin the story by contributing a first word (Once or The) or phrase (Once upon a time or this story took place in a galaxy far far away or Last weekend, I went out for…). The next participant in the circle adds another word (or phrase), and so on around the circle for one or more rounds until the story seems complete. The class story must be coherent. If the story fails to be coherent at any point, feel free to change the story. One person is allowed to say only one word at a time. If someone hesitates or doesn’t know what to say, just skips to the next person. For lower level of English, you can ask them to write one word at a time on the board. After each story, ask what the group liked about the story and discuss ways to make a more effective story for the next round. If helpful, pause the story in the middle and review suggestions for effective story making. For lower levels, use the board to correct mistakes and check vocabulary. Writing one word at a time on the board allows lower level students more time to think and prepare. Notes for Teachers: 1. Ask the students questions during the game for example, what kind of word might we need next in our sentence/story? A verb? A noun? An adjective? 2. Remember to remind the students that they need to build one coherent story. 3. What is the conflict in the story? How will the conflict or problem be resolved?

IMPROVISATION/ DRAMA FOR ELT HON CHONG 28

4. Maintain focus and try to build on what has already happened. 5. Running out of time? Tell your students they need to wrap up the story within the next five or six words. 6. Think of a writing assignment or homework for your students based on this activity. Follow-up questions: 1. Get students feedback on how they did. What they liked and didn’t like. 2. What was the main conflict in the story? Why? How was it resolved? 3. Ask the whole class how they could improve on their story if they wanted to tell it again? What makes a good story? How difficult was it to tell a collaborative story? Did anything surprise them? Variations/Applications: 1. Focus on building a single sentence together in smaller groups rather than a large collective story. Split the class into 2 more teams. 2. Try one sentence at a time. Instead of just one word, students are allowed to say a whole sentence during their turn. 3. Connect the story to content/ articles/ literature. For example, direct students to create a story about a topic or article you would like to work with them on. It is also suitable as a pre-reading activity or task. Ask what the group thinks happens next in the story they are reading, or to create a story that uses the elements found in the article.

Lesson (part 2): Let’s perform the group story! 30 to 35min How to play: Now that the class has created a story together (or if you split the class into smaller teams, there will be a few stories finished stories), it’s time to get them to act out their story! Yes, it’s time to put on a spontaneous play written by the students. Tell students they will perform the story in front of the class. Allow them some time to discuss and prepare the play.

IMPROVISATION/ DRAMA FOR ELT HON CHONG 29

Get the students to choose a narrator. The others will be in the play. The narrator reads the story one sentence a time. The actors then act out the scene after each sentence. Students can play multiple roles or objects in a scene. The narrator must give the actors enough time to finish their scene before she/he continues with the next sentence. Notes for Teachers: 1. If a student is shy, get them to play non-speaking roles. 2. You may also want a few different students to narrate the story. 3. At the end of the spontaneous play, get all students to cheer and applause each other. 4. Get the actors to improvise dialogues based on the scene. Variations/Applications: 1. Use picture freeze frames (tableaus) instead of a full scene. You can tell students to create 5 or 6 freeze frames that tell the whole story. No words, just still pictures of the story. 2. The next step is to add one dialogue or line per picture. Ask only one person to say a line per tableau.

Fluency Activity: Two-headed expert â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 15 to 20min How to play: Similar to the one word at a time game but only with two students. Ask for two volunteers, student A and student B. Tell the class that Students A and B are really one person but with two heads. They have a funny quirk where they can also speak one word at a time. You can interview them about their holiday or weekend (any theme to review the past tenses). Put students into groups of three or four to play the two-headed expert interview game. You can also select a few to perform in front of the class. Variations/ applications: 1. This is also a great game for reviewing other tenses such as the perfect tenses. 2. Try 3-headed experts!

IMPROVISATION/ DRAMA FOR ELT HON CHONG 30

Author: Hon Chong hon@imaginecourses.eu More info: www.funnylicious.eu

About me: I have over 12 years of experience in training, education and development and have worked in the USA, Slovakia, The Czech Republic and Malaysia. I also have direct industry experience in film and TV productions, theatre, corporate events/ workshops and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). As the Drama Special Interest Group (SIG) Coordinator of the Slovak Chamber of English Teachers, I regularly facilitate drama workshops for teachers of all skill levels. In 2014, I founded Imagine Center for Learning, a learning center for all ages based in Bratislava which offers creative courses and workshops in public speaking, Speech & Drama, team building and communication skills.

That year, I also created Funnylicious Improv

Theater, the first English improv school in Slovakia. I enjoy performing with my improv theater troupe in various European cities.

IMPROVISATION/ DRAMA FOR ELT HON CHONG

Improvisation theater for ELT

Improv, short for improvisation, is a form of live theater in which the plot, characters, and dialogue of a scene or story are created spontaneously in front of the audience. Improvisation is a powerful learning and teaching tool. Improv actors prepare for an improv performance by polishing skills such as listening, non-verbal communication, awareness, being present, spontaneity, etc., the same skills that are vital for learners and teachers. Some of the most followed improv rules that can be applied to learning and teaching are: Listen and communicate clearly In happy and productive teams, members feel heard and understood. Improv requires individuals to listen actively to their fellow team members in order to react appropriately. Say "yes, and ... " This is the basic foundation of improv. By saying yes, you accept others' ideas and suggestions and then you build on to that by saying 'and ...'. People who feel listened to feel valued and perceive the listener as more trustworthy. Make your teammates look good To create good scenes in improv, you need to play well with your team members. Improv is 100% teamwork. You support them in what they say and they in turn support you, as you build the story together, piece by piece. Trust Improv is based in collaboration, not competition. In an atmosphere of safety. trust and support, team members learn to be present with the group and work towards a clear shared goal. Don't be afraid to fail In improv, failure, struggle, vulnerability and fear are all part of the game! The important thing is to get up, get out there and do it again until it finally works.

IMPROVISATION/ DRAMA FOR ELT HON CHONG 32

These are the same rules which students can use to not only develop language skills, but also other vital life skills. The most important and definitely a big advantage is that improv is beneficial to both learners and teachers.

Improv Develops: -Teamwork and trust -Communication skills -Creativity -Presentation skills -Courage for handling fear, uncertainty and changes -Positive and supportive work environment Leadership

The use of improvisation theatre in ELT is not new. In many countries, such as the UK, improv has been used extensively in education for students of all ages. As an improviser, teacher and actor, I realize how the 'rules' of improvisation also apply to learning and teaching. For the past 3 years, I have applied my ideas, techniques and exercises in my classrooms. I have also shared my knowledge with fellow colleague teachers through workshops I facilitated and through my role as the Drama SIG Coordinator for the Slovak Chamber of English Teachers. With the support of the chamber, I am in the process of creating a series of workshops to introduce improvisation for ELT to a much wider group of teachers and students in Slovakia and abroad.

IMPROVISATION/ DRAMA FOR ELT HON CHONG 33

From TV to the Classroom: Distorted Pictures Game Larissa Albano - Larissa’s Language Studio (Italy) Present perfect or Past Simple? Keywords: grammar, games, verb tenses

Kids love playing in the EFL classroom but, when it comes to teenagers and adults, they sniff at the sound of the word “game”. They think they are too old to play and they are in the classroom to study. In my humble opinion, playing is the best way to learn. That’s why I decided to introduce games in my classes despite my students’ age. Of course, I need to choose the right amusing activity! For teenagers and adults I always adapt games from TV shows since adults are the contestants and my students can identify themselves. In the following game we practised the difference between present perfect and past simple and the students had the chance to improve their speaking and listening skills. The original game was “Deforming Mirrors” and it was played in an Italian TV Game Show in 1990s in Italy. Aim of the game: The contestant is shown 3 pictures in 3 different mirrors. In the first picture there is a distorted photograph of a famous person . In the other two pictures there are hints so they can guess who the celebrity is.

My game Name of the game: Distorted pictures Procedure (before the class): 1) Download the picture of a living famous person. 2) Distort the picture by using the app FACE GOO lite. (free iOS/Android app)

(a photo of Brad Pitt after editing it with Face Goo Lite app) 3) Visit the website www.biography.com to get information about the celebrity. 4) Type some sentences (8-10) about the life of the famous person using the present perfect or the past simple on the website http://www.fromtexttospeech.com , making use of their life events . Then download the audio file.

The sentences above are the ones I typed to draw a profile of Brad Pitt.

Procedure (during the class)â&#x20AC;&#x2039;: 1) Show your students the distorted picture. 2) Students look at the picture and listen to the tape you recorded. 3)

Students raise up their hands to say who the famous person is.

Depending on the number of the students you can play this game individually, in pairs or in groups.

Procedure after class - (homework)â&#x20AC;&#x2039;: 1) Students choose their favourite celebrity and look up biographical information about them. 2) They report in the classroom and the other students need to guess who their character is. 3) If they can, they can use their mobile devices to distort a picture of their favourite celeb to make the game more fun. Finally, games are not only for kids and they give your students the right atmosphere to learn in a relaxing way. ***** Larissa Albano is a CertTesol certified English teacher. She started working in the language industry in 2009 as an one-to-one language tutor in a school of languages in Rome. She set up her own language studio in her hometown in 2011. Since then she has been teaching children, teenagers and adults in small groups. She teaches without the support of coursebooks because she prefers using the GTD method which involves the following three key elements: GAME, TECH and DAILY LIFE.

Business English Secrets : Review of the e-book How to present confidently, engage comfortably in small talk, shine in job interviews and write persuasively in English

â&#x20AC;&#x2039;

Shanthi Cumaraswamy Streat

reviewed by: Milena TanasijeviÄ&#x2021;, Belgrade Metropolitan University Keywords: â&#x20AC;&#x2039;business English, presentations, job interviews, small talk, writing

The book starts with a nice and open introduction of the author who used to blog about the experiences of a Business English trainer. The author is a successful blogger who is glad to share experience about English language and literature, as well as methodological aspects of English teaching. This opening could be viewed as a welcome opportunity to all of us to start blogging since it could be a springboard to developing materials. The author was awarded for the blogs twice and it led to compiling this wonderful resource book which is primarily aimed at Business English learners. The e-book in question is a collection of the blog entries primarily organized in four parts: business presentations, job interviews, small talk and writing.

Part I: Business Presentations The first part deals with the art of business presentations. It provides five tips for success when presenting. The author presents the framework for this part by explaining what usually goes wrong when presenting, especially in a foreign language. The main approach would primarily be to organize the presentation in the native language and have it translated in the target language. Clients would then concentrate on their reading skills with focus on pronunciation. The author rightly concludes that there are numerous problems with this approach. Reading from a script brings less or no eye contact with the audience, poor intonation as well as the obvious language level gap which could present difficulties for the speaker if asked some follow-up questions.

The author provides some tips for the clients in order to overcome these challenges. The focus would primarily be on good organization and planning of the talk, careful selection of vocabulary, slow delivery with pauses, smile and practice which makes the presentation perfect. The author even suggests practice in front of a mirror, as well as recording the delivery for subsequent analysis. The second chapter of the first part deals with useful vocabulary in the following domains: signposting language, presentation structure, use of visuals, as well as use of the voice itself. The author suggests clients should learn most frequent expressions with the main verbs: make, take, give and do. The point the author is making here is that if clients learn the given expressions, they would significantly reduce the thinking time when presenting, thus making the presentation delivery run smoothly. The expressions in this chapter were taken from the book Present in English by Mark Powell, published by Heinle Cengage in 2002. The third chapter deals with possible problems and hiccups. The rule number one seems to be: Don’t panic! Here, the author provides phrases and expressions which clients could use to overcome difficulties, such as: simplification (when it is the obvious the audience cannot follow), repetition (when it becomes clear that the delivery pace is fast or when the presenter has forgotten to mention something), correction (when facts are presented wrongly), clarification (when something was presented wrong or can be misunderstood), asking for help in terms of vocabulary (in case the presenter cannot deal with the vocabulary at the moment), rephrasing (if something was stated wrong), summarizing (when the presenter is running out of time). The fourth chapter deals with signposting language. It is a significant part of the presentation which allows the audience to follow the delivery in the way the presenter had organized it. The author provides a useful bank of expressions which can be used in: introductions, the body of the presentation, explaining graphs, data and images, conclusions, and answering questions from the audience. The source of this word bank is the book Business Builder, Teacher’s Resource Series Modules 7-9 by Paul Emmerson, published by Macmillan in 1999. The fifth chapter provides a list of useful idioms which would allow the presenter to make the presentation sound more natural in English.

The second part of the book deals with job interviews. It is organized in three chapters, where the second is a natural sequence of the first. The author states that her teaching experience covered situations when clients needed to face the first job interview, as well as the potential second or even third, if they become shortlisted. This has proven to be a very stressful period for the clients. The author gives a clear framework of most frequent questions asked at first job interviews. The chapter presents useful vocabulary, as well as examples of neatly organized replies to questions dealing with the background of interviewees, achievements, current job responsibilities, personal qualities. The author also provides examples of what language to use when allowed some thinking time by the interviewer. The material for this chapter was drawn from the Business English Pod. The next chapter continues the topic of job interviews with guidance about answering questions in job interviews about achievements, strengths and weaknesses, reasons for leaving the current job, as well as asking questions for the interviewer. I would like to mention here that the suggestions given in these two chapters are very useful, even if used in the mother tongue. The third chapter dealing with the topic of job interviews offers advice how to answer competency based questions in English. The technique suggested is called STAR and is developed by the youtube video of Christina Rebuffet-Broadus. STAR stands for: situation (explanation about the current work position), task (what the issue was), action (what the interviewee did) and result (the outcome). Again, very useful technique to be used in any language in job interviews. The third part of the book deals with the topic of small talk. Chapter nine starts with the point of the value of making good first impressions, as well as non-verbal signs. The chapter analyzes an excellent video by Vicky Hollett on the topic of greeting visitors who only speak English. It provides practical suggestions such as being on time, listening carefully, being helpful and engaging in small talk. The tenth chapter deals with small talk in business situations. The author states some acceptable topics, as well as what should be avoided. The author provides some useful examples of dialogues on topics related to business travel, leisure or sports, the weather, social political issues.

The eleventh chapter deals with the art of mastering small talk. The author provides overview why small talk is relevant in the first place (to avoid awkward silence, to create a good connection…) and proceeds with advice as to how to become more engaged in small talk. The advice deals with non-verbal elements, as well as speaking with suggested examples. The suggestions are organized around body language, greetings, statements and questions, being informed, focusing on the other person, active listening, keeping light and positive tone, thinking before speaking and proper closure of conversation. The fourth part of the e-book deals with writing in business contexts. Chapter 12 provides a framework for writing business e-mails. As I had previously stated, these suggestions are useful for writing business e-mails in the mother language, as well, such as: writing a subject line, using short and concise sentences, drawing a distinction between neutral and formal tones, proper use of punctuation, spelling, basic grammar and capital letters, being direct (or not), being positive and getting feedback. All of these are followed by useful examples. Chapter 13 deals with the topic of how to make impact when writing. The author states that there are five main questions which need to be taken into account when writing for business purposes: Who are you writing to? Why are you writing? What is your message? How much time do you have? Do you have all the relevant information or knowledge? Once we have the answers to these questions, we move on to the planning stage. The next issue is the correct structure in terms of sentences and paragraphs (writing needs to flow), as well as getting the correct style (level of formality). This chapter provides excellent guidelines for the process of writing, from drafting to sending. Chapter 14 deals with the interesting topic of writing the so-called elevator pitch which actually means how to be brief and concise. It comes from the slang term which refers to a situation when people do not have much time to get to the point. The first thing to do would be to write down everything you need to say, than write it again in a post-it type of a note (to shorten it), followed by practice of saying it out loud. The e-book finishes with appendices on all the previously mentioned topics.

As stated previously, this e-book is an excellent resource in terms of guiding clients in their pursuit of becoming better at business communication. We owe a huge thank you to the author of compiling it, as well as for the insight into what value blogging has or might have. ***** Milena TanasijeviÄ&#x2021; has been working in ELT for 16 years. She has taught very young and young learners, teens, young professionals, as well as adults. Her current position is ELT Lecturer at BMU where she prepares and implements blended and distance language courses. Her research interests include SLA, teaching with technology, curriculum development. She is a frequent presenter at conferences and ELT-related events.

WECHAT, DO YOU? This article originally appeared at h ttp://englishandtech.com/page/3/

Kat Robb Keywords: edtech

These past few weeks I’ve been teaching a pre-sessional course at a UK university and have heavily experimented with using the instant messaging app WeChat in class. The predominant L1 is Mandarin, but with Thai and Arabic speakers too, it has been the perfect context for testing. The outcome has been surprisingly positive and a great learning curve for both the students and me. Here are some activities I trialed: Free chat WeChat As a warmer at the beginning of class after a free study period and lunch break, I asked the students to chat about anything they liked. They chose food, the trip they went on at the weekend, and I spurred them on with questions. Admittedly the answers were very short, but it helped them feel comfortable with chatting open class and with the teacher. Synonym race This activity worked really well. I selected academic lexis the students had learnt during the course to date, and it was a novel and quick way to refresh the lexis and push the learners for more than one alternative way to say something. On other occasions, I have made it a group activity where one phone in a group of four students is used, and a point is awarded for the first answer, with an additional point if the synonym is spelt correctly. Lecture summary and peer correction I asked the students to consolidate their notes in groups of four, for a lecture they had attended that morning. The task was to compile a 100 word succinct summary of the lecture covering the main points. Once this was uploaded, the groups peer-corrected the texts for content, language, and grammar mistakes. Each text was

read aloud open-class, and peers shouted stop at any point to correct the mistakes. The students enjoyed reading and correcting each other’s work. Free writing assignment – out of class I wanted to see if the quality of writing changed if the task was to be completed in students’ own time. I gave the students some questions to introduce them to the topic, then asked them to write a 100-word summary using information from their answers to help them. Some wrote as they would speak in chat style, but others continued to write in a clear and convincing academic style. When I asked the students how they felt about completing a writing task like this, they all agreed they enjoyed it because it gave them the freedom to manage their own time and complete the task when it was convenient for them. If you try any of the activities above, I’d love to hear about it! ***** Kat Robb is a teacher, a learner and avid language lover living in Barcelona. She‘s a Trinity CERT, IELTS and EAP teacher trainer, and specialises in teaching EAP and

Business English. Her special interest is the use of new technologies for teaching and learning, and she blogs at englishandtech.com.

1 Ken Wilson

The Duke's portrait

The Duke's portrait A novel by Ken Wilson

Chapter 4

Have we done something wrong?

Horace walked out of Coutts Bank and onto the Strand, trying to make sense of what he had just heard. According to Burgess, someone impersonating his late wife Martha had been visiting the bank over the two years since her death, usually once a month, but occasionally more often, and had taken almost all the money out of his trust fund. When Horace asked why the bank had allowed this to happen, Burgess produced a typewritten letter signed by him, with the address of the house in Hunstanton, informing the bank that in future Mrs Goodgame would be making withdrawals in person at the London branch in the Strand. Horace stared at the letter. It was dated September the first, 1935, which was a week before Martha disappeared. "I didn't write this," he said. "Do you have any idea who did?" asked Mr Burgess. "Of course not. Although it does look like my signature." Burgess explained that on receipt of the letter, the bank had written asking him to call the bank to confirm the arrangement, and a man claiming to be Mr Goodgame had called and told the bank to go ahead. The withdrawals had started and the trust fund, which had been worth more than seven thousand pounds, had dwindled almost to nothing. "I must ask you not to make any more withdrawals from the fund in the immediate future," said Burgess. "And I'm afraid the monthly cheques will cease forthwith." Charles sat silently in his chair for a moment, then he got up, shook hands with Burgess, thanked him and made his way out of the office and onto the street. Reg Plumpton the commissionaire saluted as he passed. Horace saw a taxi approaching and instinctively flagged it down. As it pulled up in front of him, he remembered that as of now, almost the only monetary assets he had were the coins in his pocket and wondered if taking a taxi was actually a good idea. "Where to, guv'nor?" asked the driver, cheerfully. "How much will it cost to go to Earl's Court?" asked Horace.

2 Ken Wilson

The Duke's portrait

"About two and six," replied the driver. "Cheap at twice the price." Charles put his hand in his pocket and pulled out some coins. He had eleven shillings and sixpence in change. Those coins might have to last him for the rest of his life. "It's all right," said Horace. "I'll walk." The smile disappeared from the driver's face. "Fair enough," he said. "Think before you stop a cab next time, all right? We're busy people." "Yes, of course," said Horace. "By the way, which way is Earl's Court?" "Just walk in a straight line that way," said the driver, pointing east towards Aldwych, and drove away. Horace set off the way the driver had indicated, walking in the opposite direction from his intended destination. Three hours later, exhausted and dishevelled, red-faced and perspiring, Horace arrived back at Barkston Gardens. The journey on foot should have taken him no more than an hour, but Horace's route took him east as far as St Paul's Cathedral before he decided to ask someone for further directions. Some fifty minutes later, he passed Coutts on the Strand again, and eventually found his way home via Piccadilly, Knightsbridge and South Kensington, passing within yards of his brother Ernest's house. Leonora was sitting on the small balcony of the apartment with a glass of white wine in her hand. "Ah Horace," she said. She turned to look at him and saw the rivulets of sweat pouring down his red face. "Good God, what on earth has happened to you?" "I just walked back from the Strand," he explained. "What on earth for?" "Um.... it's a bit complicated." "Well, never mind that now. I need your advice." After less than a year of marriage and very few weeks of actual co-habitation, Horace was very familiar with the way Leonora's requests for advice worked. The words 'I need your advice' usually meant that she was going to tell him something she had decided, and which was probably going to cost him money. "As you know, all my novels are set somewhere in England," she began. "Are they?" "Yes, and I've decided it's time for a change of scene, so I've set my latest story in Venice. I think my readers will appreciate it." Leonora had recently signed a contract with a much smaller publisher than the defunct Capstan company. Her new editor was called Arabella, a recent Cambridge graduate with a double first in Latin and Greek, and she had suggested doing something to spice up the formula. When Leonora replied that setting her stories in London had

3 Ken Wilson

The Duke's portrait

served her well enough for her first five novels, Arabella intimated that it may be time for a change. It was not a relationship made in heaven. "Marvellous," said Horace, turning over the eleven and sixpence in his pocket. "Good," she said. "I'm so glad you agree." "Agree?" he repeated. "Agree to what?" "To me spending a month in Venice to do some research." "Splendid idea," said Horace. "How are you planning to pay for it?" "I'm sorry?" said Leonora. Horace told her what he had learnt in the morning. Leonora listened, her eyes opening wide and her mouth falling open by degrees as the story unfolded. "Oh God, it's â&#x20AC;&#x2039;The Tangled Truth," she said. "Quite," said Horace. "All very confusing." Leonora sat for a moment, staring at the trees in the garden in the middle of the square. "So we have no money in the bank?" "That's more or less the long and the short of it," said Horace. "I'm the victim of fraud on a grand scale," he added. Repeating the assistant manager's dramatic words gave him some comfort, albeit temporarily. Leonora was staring silently into the distance, pondering on her terrible choice of men. She regretted putting that floosie Wallis Simpson in touch with Edward. Was it too late to snaffle him back? Burgess returned the box containing the Goodgame ledger and correspondence to its appropriate filing cabinet, and then opened the door to the outer office where his secretary Rita O'Riley was sitting. She quickly put the copy of â&#x20AC;&#x2039;Vogue magazine she was reading out of sight onto her lap and started typing, even though there was no paper in the machine in front of her. "Miss O'Riley, could you come into my office for a moment, please?" Burgess dictated a memo which Rita was to type out and pin on the notice board. It was to be read by all counter staff, and it contained a warning to be on the lookout for a woman calling herself Martha Goodgame. On no account was anyone to honour or cash any cheque, money order or promissory note presented by this woman, who was impersonating the deceased wife of one of the bank's clients. If the woman appeared, they should attempt a citizen's arrest, and she was to be kept prisoner at the bank, pending the arrival of the police. There were handcuffs in the main safe if she needed to be restrained. Rita went back into her office, put some paper in her typewriter and typed out the memo. She then walked through into the busy banking hall and pinned it on the noticeboard. There

4 Ken Wilson

The Duke's portrait

were a line of seven tellers, most of whom were dealing with customers. Behind them were another half dozen employees sitting at desks, all with piles of papers and cheques, copying information into large ledgers. Most of them stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Rita had only been working for the bank for a month, and her presence had aroused either intense passion or gross envy in her colleagues. Her father Brendan was a junior diplomat at the Irish Embassy in London. He was a golfing partner with Rodney Coutts, the latest in the banking family to be made manager of the Strand branch. Rodney had less idea about banking as the average London taxi driver and preferred to play golf every day, leaving the running of the bank to his deputy, of whom Burgess was the latest in a long line. During one of their golf games, Brendan indicated that he would like his daughter to get a job at the bank. When Rodney heard that Burgess was looking for a new secretary, he forced him to take on Rita, even though there were other applicants who were much better qualified. As it turned out, Rita was good at her job, and Mr Burgess was happy with her work. This did nothing to prevent other people in the bank feeling intensely annoyed about her sudden appointment to a choice position. As Rita pinned the memo to the notice board, Alex Smithers, the one teller who was not actually dealing with a customer, walked up to see what it contained, and also to take the chance to flirt with Rita. "So, what have you got for us today, Rita?" he asked. "A warning," she replied, with a beaming smile. "Oh I say, a warning," he repeated. "Have we done something wrong?" "Maybe you have, maybe you haven't," she said. "You'd better take a look." She pinched him on the cheek and turned to go back to her office. Alex blushed to the roots of his hair, and turned to see if any of his colleagues had seen what happened. They had. Most of them were glaring at him. Alex smiled and turned back to read the memo. Within seconds, the smile had frozen on his face. "Oh Jesus," he said. He turned and ran to the door that led to the public area of the bank, opened it and ran across the hall, past Reg the commissionaire at the front door and out into the street. He looked to the left and saw two women walking towards Trafalgar Square. "Hey you two!" he yelled. "Stop!" The two women turned and saw him and ran across the road, disappearing down an alleyway. Alex thought about giving chase, but not having received the required permission to leave the premises during office hours, he decided against it.

5 Ken Wilson

The Duke's portrait

"Somefin up?" asked Reg. Alex ignored him and ran back inside the bank, knocked frantically on the door separating the public area from the banking area, and yelled to be let back in. He ran to Mr Burgess's office, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

*****

Ken Wilson is an ELT author and trainer and has worked in English language teaching for more than forty years. He’s written more than thirty ELT titles, including a dozen series of course books, and also writes radio and TV programmes, sketches, songs and drama resources. His first ELT publication was an album of songs called Mister Monday, released when he was 23, which at the time made him the youngest published ELT author ever. Since then, he has written and recorded more than two hundred songs for English learners. Until 2002, Ken was artistic director of the English Teaching Theatre, a company which performed stage-shows for learners of English all over the world. The ETT made more than 250 tours to 55 countries on five continents.

Trapped in the Dollhouse Luka Jovičić, a 2nd grade student of “Matematička gimnazija”, Belgrade Have you ever had a feeling you’re doing something, but you’re not completely sure why? Just because it’s the way it’s done and everyone seems to be doing it, it can’t be that bad? No doubt it can indeed proved to be useful. After all, no one knows everything, and it’s a way of learning new things. At the very least, you should listen when your mother tells you not to touch the stove, because it’ll hurt you (“But why mom? It’s just a big black circle”, some of us just couldn’t resist the temptation). The biggest problem I have with that attitude is that “everyone seems to be” is very rarely “everyone is”. What if all of your friends started doing drugs, would you do the same? No, of course not. And yet, every real world story I’ve heard of seems to prove how impossible that answer is. People are like that. Crazy, I know. The most fragile group, at least from my viewpoint, are the ones who are growing up. Teenagers, not really kids but not entirely adults, whose behaviour is usually reminiscent of wandering in the dark, nobody really knows where they are going or which path they are taking. Following the group is a natural thing to do in a situation where you don't know how to behave. If you don’t know what to do, someone surely does. Right? Kind of. Someone does, but you can’t really be certain who that is. The group is usually led by the loudest, not necessarily the ones who know what to do. And very rarely any of us knows what to do. Feeling bad, everything is falling apart; nobody cares about you? “Here, take this. Better?” “Better.” “You see, she is doing the same. He as well. It’s perfectly normal. We care about you. Everybody does it, needn't worry. Everything will be fine.” Until, of course, you realise that’s the only thing that makes you feel alive, and suddenly you can’t stop taking it. Or so I’ve been told. I don’t really know the feeling, but there’s something about that story. Even if you have never taken drugs, you’ve certainly been in a similar situation. Maybe it wasn’t so obvious, like when you realized the film you have seen didn’t appear to be so awesome after you’ve heard negative criticism from your friends. Pretty harmless compared to the drugs, but it proves my point that our opinions, beliefs, and principles are heavily influenced by our peers, and the people around us play a significant part in shaping them, whether we're aware of it or not. We all desperately want to fit in; nobody wants to be the one who stands out. When no one wants to be different, you’re trapped in a society of more or less the same people

with similar opinions and attitudes with no one particularly interesting. There are minor variations, certain people will like someone more or less, might use slightly different words, but the vast majority will hate school, think of the most imaginative ways to cheat at a test, make jokes with that one poor kid, go out every Friday and weekend nights at the very minimum, believe you are supposed to have your first kiss at 14, etc. You will, whether you like it or not, do your best to conform. If there’s no way you can achieve everything others put upon you, there is certainly a way to hide all your ‘flaws’. Because that’s what they are : flaws! The list of goals you haven’t fulfilled is there to haunt you, remind you how pathetic your life is, how much you’re lagging behind everybody else. You’re a failure. Miserable, everything seems to be falling apart; nobody cares about you. “Here, take this. Better?” Maybe you find a way to reach all the goals; then you don’t have to hide anything. You can be proud of all your actions and feel you’re a success. Okay, you might secretly like that one subject, teacher or kid, but nobody knows, you have good reason to hide it. Nobody will get hurt anyway. You might really hate getting drunk every weekend, or think you can’t stand another night at the club, but everyone else says it’s fun, so the problem is definitely with you. Everyone thinks you’re cool, so it’s not an issue. You might not have liked that girl or boy in primary school, but what bad has arisen out of it? You were ‘together’ for a week, then broke up, one more tick on the checklist and it took you what? Ten days? Easy. No harm done. That person liked you; so what, he or she will get over it eventually, you’ve given them what they want, you were together. It was a win-win situation. You know what the cool kids are doing? Going to abandoned buildings. Smoking. Sex. Up to now, it was all good, and it’s just a few more things on the list. When you accomplish them, you will surely be happy, like them. You will live your life to the fullest, enjoying every moment of it. Those things will make you happy like they make everyone else happy. You will be a success, finally being proud of who you are and what you’ve done. Just a few more things. That is, unless you move somewhere. Here comes the most ridiculous part: those things you are supposed to do, they change depending on who you are surrounded with. Revising for the tests? How do you mean you don’t go to nightclubs on Friday? Wait, what? Does that mean we’re not supposed to get drunk on weekends? Thank God! But how do you meet new people, approach the ones you find attractive? Do you just do it at school, say ‘hi’ and later introduce yourself, ask them out? How do you mean ‘maybe’? Weird? No, it wouldn’t be weird, it’s just

letting them know you’ve noticed them, what’s so strange about that? You, people, are talking nonsense, you’re weird. Are you telling me you didn’t have boyfriends and girlfriends in the seventh grade? But... We’re still supposed to lose virginity right after we turn seventeen at the latest, right? Taboo? What taboo? No, this all doesn’t make sense. This means everything I’ve worked so hard for is lost. Nobody here can appreciate it. How can I ever be happy now? Did it even matter? I’ve put a lot of time into it, and now it’s gone. Nothing. I’m no one. My whole life has been a lie. What’s with the list, where did it go? You must have some list around here too? I wasn’t given everything spelled out the last time, but it was obvious, it’s just the way things are done. And now I have to go through it again, figuring out the stuff and adjusting? Was I really obliged to do it the first time? Of course, how would have I fitted in? Nobody would’ve hung out with me. Okay, maybe a couple of losers, but that’d make me sad, and all I’ve wanted is to be happy. There’s a list; there’s always a list to happiness. Do like the happy people do and end up being like them, that’s common sense. Was I so wrong all this time? I just did what everyone else was doing; there's no way all those people were wrong. So what if I'm fifteen, I've seen enough of life already. I'm supposed to understand these things, they all know what they are doing, I am the only lost one. Do they really? Are we all really just wandering in the dark, hoping someone will turn on the light at some point? No, this definitely doesn’t make any sense. I’m miserable; everything seems to be falling apart, nobody cares about me anymore. “Here, take this. Better?” ***** As computer programming is one of his favourites, Luka Jovičić has chosen to enrol in the Mathematical Grammar School in Belgrade, a school whose curriculum is mainly focused on mathematical sciences. Nonetheless, he retains his passion for both writing in English and Serbian and observing social trends among his peers. With his work "Trapped in the Dollhouse", Luka won the second prize in the literary competition "My English Book" in June 2016.