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Dear Reader, February is probably the happiest month of the year as it is full of fun. We have just
Noémi tells you about Beginning the year on the farm page 3
started the new year (actually, the Chinese are starting it now) and still foster the atmosphere of Christmas. We go to
Ildikó asks: Are you having FUN? page 4
carnival parties to dance (maybe to sing too?), eat loads of pancakes, celebrate Love and watch Super Bowl matches.
Éva shares 12 Facts About Pancake Day page 5
What I’m most happy about is that although there’s so much to enjoy, you
Melinda presents American football page 7
devote some time to English as well!
Lilla suggest you ways to Spend time with your ’Valentine’! page 9
Wishing you Happy English Practice with a lot of fun: Niki Kranz, Your Guide to
Niki ’sings’ you the Sound of Music page 10
English Tea Time
Impresszum A magazin összeállítója: Kranz Niki Minden jog fenntartva! A cikkek a szerzők szellemi tulajdonát képezik, nyelvi színvonalukért és információtartalmukért a szerzők maguk felelnelnek! A cikkek másolása részben vagy egészben kizárólag a szerzők hozzájárulásával lehetséges. 2015. január 26.
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Well, I must close our last year to start a new one… It was a hard year. We fought with weather, with people, with changes, with time…But we won. So we can live, we have got strength, new chances and ideas! We could relax last January, because we were waiting for the babies of our goats. They were born in February and March – so we had to work hard these months. Then we could milk the goats again in April, so we could go to markets with cheese – life began again. We bought a little, pink pig, his name was Pöri, and some turkeys and geese. And we had got some small rabbits too. The garden started to turn green in May, and Romeo – our black horse – enjoyed the grass again. And there came the summer. Summer means the „seven lean years” for cheese makers, so we made a lot of goat cheese, but we couldn’t sell them. People went to on holiday from towns and we worried enough. We worked and worked over and over in vain. But we are not people who often despair. September came and people came again to the markets. Life started again. My animals grew up – the piggy, the geese, the turkeys and the rabbits – and we started to be happy for having a lot of meat. Then I made some new cheese – burrata and parenica in October, and we bought a cute calf – her name is Saciaboci. She was the family’s favourite animal. And November came and the slaughters of the pig and the geese came with it. We had a lot of work in December. My husband went to an Advent Fair with our goat milk soaps and I went to the markets with my cheese. Then the year ended and we took a breath and panted.
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Now we are waiting the goat babies again, but can not relax because we make cow cheese. We hope this year will be lucky and blessed. We have a lot of work too, but we have got a lot of tools and conditions for it. Our animals are healthy and happy, it’s snowing and life is beautiful, isn’t it. We wish a Blessed and Peaceful New Year to everyone!
Baranyi Noémi www.gyuroikecske.blogspot.hu https://www.facebook.com/BaranyiNoemiSajtEsSzappan
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I have done some research. Carnival is the time that “people celebrated before Lent and it began with parades, costumes and masks in order to endure the period of Lent and withdrawal from worldly pleasures”. I though it is meant to be a Christian tradition, Carnival has roots in pre-Christian times with various celebrations in February. The basic idea of the Carnival is celebrating ‘life’. Lent was invented by the Church a bit later, in my opinion, in order to make sure that you repent after having so much fun and breaking all rules that binds us all into respectable human beings. I look around and it looks as if we have forgotten how to have fun, how to be wild and deliriously crazy! At least for a day! People basically look grey, white, brown, black, and gloomy. We have lost our colour. I started checking out some of the Carnival programs. Most of them are for children and are about wearing some weird costume especially that of a super hero. What’s that all about?
same. Carnival is meant to be the time of losing control and really going for the wild within. This is the time to experience the uncontrollable rebel, to revive the passionate diseuse, and to act like Stanley Ipkiss when he turns into the MASK. Use a mask and take on an alter-ego that can support you to do some wild and crazy stuff that your ‘well socialized ego’ would never let you do.
We seem to have lost touch completely with the rebellious within and practically managed to teach our kids how to do the
Let your hair loose; scream, dance as if nobody’s watching! It is the Carnival, have some fun without boundaries!
Our accessories are from the wild side. We wish to contribute to the crazy, the passionate, the wild side in each of us that are behind shut steel-doors so to be able to awake and express. Kudlik Ildikó https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spiritn-Art-Recycled http://spiritinart.me/ http://snailfarm.me/ 5
Picture: courtesy of Kudlik Ildikó and Spirit’n Art™ Recycled.
Do You Like Pancakes? What Do You Know About Pancake Day? 1. Shrove Tuesday is known as Pancake Day in the United Kingdom. It is the one day of the year when almost everyone eats a pancake. 2. It is the last day before the period which Christians call Lent. 3. It is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren’t allowed in Lent because they contain fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during Lent. 4. It is celebrated on the day before Ash Wednesday and it is the final day before the commencement of Lent, a Christian festival leading up to Easter Sunday. 5. It is always 47 days before Easter Sunday, so the date varies from year to year. 6. An English pancake is thin and flat, made of batter, fried in a pan and served immediately from the frying pan. Caster sugar is sprinkled to the top and some fresh lemon juice is added. 7. Today everyone celebrates Pancake Day regardless of religion. 8. All over England pancake races are held. The object of the race is to get to the finishing line first whilst flipping a pancake in a frying pan a pre-decided number of times. 9. More than one hunred years ago, Pancake Day used to be a half-day holiday. The church bell was rung at eleven o’clock in the morning, as a reminder to housewives to prepare their pancake batter. The bell is still rung today in villages across England, although Shrove Tuesday is not a half-day holiday now. 10. It used to be a great day for cock-fighting in England. Cock-fighting was introduced to Britain by the Romans. 11. In the Midlands, the first pancake was given to chickens, to ensure their fertility during the year. 12. The world’s biggest pancake was 15 metres in diameter and weighted three tonnes. Text source: www.projectbritain.com Picture source: www.flickrl.com Éva Volford www.profigyerekangol.hu https://www.facebook.com/profi.angol 6
Pancake Day Wordsearch You have to find the words and expressions in connection with Pancake Day across and down. Have a great time!
Éva Volford www.profigyerekangol.hu https://www.facebook.com/profi.angol
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they can try to pass the ball to the opponent’s end zone. The field goal worths three points and a safety worths two points. They wear a football jersey with their name and number. American football is a contact sport so players wear pads, a helmet and gloves.
American football is a very popular team sport in the United States and Canada. This game mixes strategy and physical play. The game is palyed on a rectangular field. It’s called the ’gridiron’. The field has two end zones – goalposts - at opposite ends of the field. The object of the game is to score points when passing the ball into the opposing team’s end zone. When the ball is over the line, people shout ’Touch down.’ Games are long because of the tactics. But there are four quarters in a game and each lasts fifteen minutes. There are lines on the field, these are 100 yards to each football field, which mark the the distance that players need to cover to reach the other team’s goal line. The ball is oval with pointed ends. Players carry, throw or kick the ball. There are 53 players in an American football team, but only 22 players can play at the same time: 11 offensive players and 11 defensive players. The teams are divided into two groups: offense and defense. The offense must move the ball at least ten yards (First Down). They have four tries to do this. The defense can intercept the play, by taking the ball out of the air during a pass to another offensive player. When a player earned a First Down, the offense can try to make a touchdown. This is where they run the ball into the end zone, and it makes 6 points for the team. After the touchdown they can kick the ball to get an extra point. If they would like to get two extra points,
Cheerleaders Almost every team has a cheerleading group. Cheerleaders are popular attraction that can give a team more coverage. The members participate in practice, training camp, appearances, photo shoots and charity events. Cheerleaders make shows between the plays. Nowadays there are lots of competitions for cheerleaders, there are magazines and beauty shows for the girls. National Football League and Super Bowl The top teams in the NFL compete in the playoffs and finally in the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is usually played at the end of January or the beginning of February. It is one of the most watched television events of the year. This year the Super Bowl will be played on 1 February in Phoenix. This year New England Patriots will play with Seattle Seahawks. New Enlgand Patriots’ nickname is ’Pats’ and they were two times in the Super Bowl (1986 and 1997) but they had a defeat. Seattle Seahawks is the last year’s winner, they won the 48th Super Bowl against the Denver Broncos. Super Bowl is a huge show and a family-andfriend event to go or watch it together. There are lots of famous people and pop stars. In this year Katy Perry will make a halftime-show.
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Interesting facts about the Super Bowl : Americans eat approximately 1,25 billion chicken wings on Super Bowl weekend. The average Super Bowl-watching party has at least 17 guests. Americans drink 50 million cases of beer on Super Bowl weekend.
On Super Bowl Sunday pizza delivery drivers get into more accidents than any other day of the year. Factoh.com writes: „NFL cheerleaders typically make 50-75 $ a game. By the time they spend money on make-up, hair accessories, dance classes etc., they end up losing money.”
Interesting films about American football, that you must see: The Blind Side The Replacements Invincible Little Giants The Longest Yard The Program Hometown Legend Rudy
Any Given Sunday We Are Marshall
Sources: http://www.nfl.com/ http://facts.randomhistory.com/football-facts.html http://funeasyenglish.com/classroom-free-online-english-language-lesson-january-30.htm http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerikai_futball
Picture source: Fürész-Mayernik Melinda https://www.facebook.com/angolkalauz https://www.google.com/+AngolkalauzHuoldal https://twitter.com/fmmelinda http://www.angolkalauz.hu/blog/ 9
Who says you can celebrate Valentine’s day only with your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse? Why not spend some quality time with your son / daughter / grandson / granddaughter / godson / goddaugther or maybe with someone who lost a loved one this year? When my daughter was only 5, I planned a Valentine day’s party for some teenager girls. Karina was very jealous of my spending time with other kids. So we agreed that first I would spend an hour with her, then she would be happy to go home to her daddy and baby brother. We did some games and then I told her the story of how this tradition started. She knew I would give roses for the girls, and she was very touched when even she, a 5-year-old little girl was given a beautiful rose. After this we made some Valentine cards to her favourite cousins, and decorated some cookies together. She still talks about this ’outing’ the two of us had. As for the teenage girls, I had our wedding photoalbum with me, and I told them how I met my ’prince charming’ (whose surname happens to be ’King’, by the way), and about the months that led to our wedding. I told them how important it was for me to keep the best gift ever to my husband – my purity. I took a rose and started tearing off its petals, one by one, and asked them if they would be happy to receive a rose with only a few petals. They said they would prefer a perfect one. ’It is just the same with girls – I added. - If you sleep with this boy and then with another, you are wasting your ’petals’. The most precious gift you can give your husband on your wedding day is that you keep yourself for him.’ As a reminder, I gave them each a long-stem rose I had chosen very carefully that morning. To remind them of how special they are, and of how valuable each petal is. So, you see, your Valentine can be anyone. I am not encouraging you to neglect your spouse, but your spouse might not be the type who wishes to be pampered on a silly day like Valentine’s day. Mine is not Remember that there are many other people who long to spend quality time with someone. Try to decide today who should be the one this year whose day you will gild! If you want to know more about the Valentine’s day activities I like, check out my bilingual blog. Királyné Ficsor Lilla http://lillaskids.blogspot.hu https://www.facebook.com/kiralyne.lilla
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Can you hear it? It is everywhere: the noise of cars in the street, the voice of your colleague sitting nearby, the sounds of animals in a farm, the rhythm of your steps as you go home from work, the ringtone of your phone … what would you add to this list? Everyone needs music: those who want to dance or sing karaoke at a carnival party, cheerleader girls at a football match, you need good rhythm to make perfect pancakes, and a romantic melody for Valentine’s day. Music has always learnt to play the more fun thanks played on the
been important in my life. When I was a child, I pipe. Whenever I teach children, our lessons are to the songs which we sing after the melody pipe.
Now that I live abroad, music is absolutely vital for me. First, because it is culture itself. I found it a great honour when locals let me join a traditional charity event. We were dressed up as the Magi and went from house to house singing carols and collecting donations. It was fantastic to see how our songs opened people’s hearts. Of course I had to prepare a lot for this. I had to learn new Christmas melodies and the lyrics in a foreign language. It wasn’t easy but it was fun to study new words and their proper pronunciation. People couldn’t believe when I told them I was from Hungary, because they heard me speaking without an accent. They were so amazed that they forgot to pay attention to my grammatical mistakes! The best of all is however, that I could make new friends. All in all, I know that music is important. I have experienced it. This is why I also recommend my students to sing songs. This is why I include singing as an exercise in my teaching (also when I teach adults!). This is why it is also a part of my 21-day learning program.
Kranz Niki www.yourguide.hu https://www.facebook.com/YourGuideKft
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Baranyi Noémi I’m a farmer, I live in a small village near Budapest with my family. I’ve got five children, three sons and two daughters. I work at home with my Husband, Geza. We’ ve got animals – goats, a horse, goats, rabbits, goats, turkeys, goats, geese, goats, and a pig. And goats. So, we love our goats . I make cheese and soaps and hand cream from goat milk and cow milk. I’ll write about our animals, farm and market. You can read more here: www.gyuroikecske.blogspot.hu or on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BaranyiNoemiSajtEsSzappan
Kudlik Ildikó I have 20 years of experience in different educational and developmental settings in various parts of the world. I also run my own self-designed courses sharing my vast knowledge and experience in the fields of creativity and creative self-expression as an educator and coach with all those who wish to provide support for themselves, their children/pupils and/or colleagues. For the past 10 years, I have also been creating various products and artwork in collaboration with other artist and educators under the brand called Spirit’n Art©. As an environmentalist artist I create products that intend to inspire creative eco-living under the brand called Spirit’n Art Recycled©. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spiritn-Art-Recycled http://spiritinart.me/ http://snailfarm.me/
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Volford Éva I am a teacher of English for (very) young learners. It means that I have a certificate to teach children from the age of 3. I have been teaching English in Szeged since 1993. I have two children Csanád (2002) and Viola (2006). After having my children I finished teaching in primary schools and I started to run my own bussiness: PROFI GYEREK ANGOL. I have English ’lessons’ for kids where we use only English to have a lot of fun-, movements- and great time together. I believe: ’If you learn with a smile, you’ll learn for ever.’ www.profigyerekangol.hu https://www.facebook.com/profi.angol
Fürész-Mayernik Melinda I am a primary teacher of Maths and English in Hungary. I’m interested in early language learning and raising bilingual kids. Before my daughter, Míra was born I had been teaching Maths and English in a primary school and privately, too. I guided English playgroups in my town to babies and mothers, toddlers and nursery and school children with lots of movements and fun. Now, my greatest „teaching” project is on raising my toddler bilingual (Hungarian and English). I would like to show parents how they can make English language learning fun for their children and how they can help them at school. I support the parents from home. You can find me on: https://www.facebook.com/angolkalauz https://www.google.com/+AngolkalauzHuoldal https://twitter.com/fmmelinda
Follow my blog: http://www.angolkalauz.hu/blog/
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Királyné Ficsor Lilla I am a mom of three. Karina is 9, Barni is 5, Kristóf is 2,5. I am a teacher and a writer. With my book I help parents to teach their kids through stories and crafts, and I prepare kindergartners for learning their timetables. You can find me at http://lillaskids.blogspot.hu and at https://www.facebook.com/kiralyne.lilla
Kranz Niki
I am Your Guide to successful English communication and enjoyable nonstop language practice. You are most welcome to my online lessons which are accompanied by daily available online and offline practice, a useful weekly newsletterand now this monthly magazine. Join a 21-day English language challenge for FREE: www.yourguide.hu Get fun practice daily: https://www.facebook.com/YourGuideKft This is my project for nonstop teaching: http://nonstoptanar.yourguide.hu/enter/
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