The ideal summer lessons ;P

What would the ideal summer lessons be like?

Personally, I think that in order to learn and prepare ourselves for the ECCE test in December in such a short period of time, the lessons have to be enjoyable, not only for us, but for our teachers too. I believe that using our school’s computers would be a very amusing way to practice our English. Having a blog has helped me improve my English skill in a very fun way. In my opinion, having to sit in front of a desk all day, studying, is not the best way of learning. We can also play games in class in order to revise our vocabulary and grammar. We have already done it once in the past and I am sure that both the students and our teacher had a lot of fun. However, playing games all day long will not be much help. We could also watch some educational videos or even movies to improve our English. To conclude, I believe that if the lessons are well-organized and we have fun in class, this summer will be unforgettable!

Summer lessons! :D

What would the ideal 

summer lessons be like?

From my point of view, I believe that our summer lessons in Markaki-Markoulaki English Language School should be marvelous. First of all, it’s a good idea to play different games all together. In my opinion, it’s a very efficient way to learn how to speak and write in English by having fun and enjoying ourselves. I would also like to go to our computer building very often and spend some time there surfing the Net or visiting our blogs and enriching them with our new excellent posts or doing exercises from our CDs. However, the best thing that we should do is not having lessons but I’m sure that in the future we won’t regret it. 

A Story!

“The new Einstein”

In the summer of 2006, I was in Athens, in order to visit my uncle, Sebastian, who is a very good scientist. One day, he took me to his laboratory to show me his new invention.

It was a big, purple hat, like the ones witches wear, with lots of yellow stars.

“Could you, please, try my invention?” he asked.

I put it on and within seconds I felt so dizzy that I had to sit down. I felt like my head was about to burst. My uncle looked as if he wanted to cry with joy. He was very curious and nervous to see the results of his invention.

So, he gave me a piece of paper with the most difficult mathematical calculations. I solved them faster than any computer. It was a hat which gave you amazing mathematical abilities. The invention worked exactly as Sebastian had expected. He was very proud of himself and satisfied, as well.

“You can keep it, if you want” he said.

Since then, I have been the best student at maths. That’s why everyone calls me “The new Einstein”. Everyone, that is, expect the scientist who made it possible.

Story

An unexpected gift

Carla looked at the car in surprise. Her best friend’s car was outside the school full of presents. She couldn’t believe her eyes and she screamed with joy.

“Oh, my God.”

She was really touched and astonished.

Two years ago, she had moved to a very small village far away from the city. Since then, she had been working in the school, as a teacher. She loves all her students very much and she remember the way that the villagers welcomed her and how perfectly they behaved towards her. They’re friendly, helpful and very kind. She had told her best friend about these things and also revealed to her that she wanted to do something special to show them her appreciation. Her friend had a brilliant idea. With some help, she managed to collect some money and buy loads of presents for the students.

One day, she put them in her car and all of a sudden she appeared in the village. She hadn’t told Carla that’s why she was really surprised. The car was full of different colourful boxes with toys and books. Carla thanked her friend and gave out the presents. The kids laughed, hugged and kissed their teacher.

How do we celebrate Easter?

Easter

 

Easter lasts a fortnight; during it each family wants to be with their relatives and acquaintances, so they visit them in a distant place in order to celebrate together the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

Holy Week starts actually after the Palm Sunday. On that day we go to church where we are given palm leaves which are made in different shapes. In that way we honour the time when Jesus Christ enter Ierosolima and the faithful were applauding him throwing palm leaves. That’s why that day is called “Palm Sunday”. Moreover people who fast during Lent eat only fish dishes avoiding the dairy products and generally meat.

 

At Holy Week we follow some acts in order to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For instance, we spend time in a meadow picking flowers to make wreathes and decorate the epitaph with them. We also make traditional sweets and Easter cookies for approximately a whole day. Furthermore, in the Easter tradition, on Good Thursday we dye eggs in particularly red color. That symbolizes the blood that was poured from Jesus Christ when He was crucified. On Thursday evening, Christians got to church. The wreathes are collected and the priest leads the service and everyone mourns Christ’s crucifixion.

 

On Good Friday morning, people go to church again to kneel in front of the epitaph. The epitaph is decorated with flowers and looks stunning. Everyone pays their respects to Jesus Christ. In the evening, the priest leads the main service, as well. Now the epitaph is brought around the town with everyone following. In addition, that day people usually eat octopus and generally fish dishes.

 

On Good Saturday housewives stay at home and cook a traditional soup called magiritsa. At night, we all put on our best clothing and take candles with us to the church. (The tradition is the godmother or the godfather to give to their godchildren their candle.) Furthermore, many people’s candles have flowers and other ornaments on them. That day we celebrate Anastasi (Resurrection). The priest wears colorful clothing. Afterwards, everyone lights their candles and slowly the flame passes from person to person until everyone’s candle is burning. At midnight, Christ is resurrected. There are fireworks and fire crackers and there is a big celebration. We also burn Judas. After that, everyone goes home to eat the magiritsa and other delicacies. We also crack the red eggs exchanging Easter wishes. We all hug and kiss each other.

 

On Easter Sunday, in the morning, we get out to bed a little late because we are all tired from the night before. We gather and we eat lettuce salad and kokoretsi while we wait for the lamb to be roasted on a spit. We spend the rest of the day eating, drinking, dancing and listening to music. It’s a big celebration and everyone is radiant and we all have smiles on our faces.

 

 

Letter (giving advice)

Dear Melanie,

How are you? I’m glad you are doing well and I hope everything’s fine there. Thanks for your last letter. I really liked the song you wrote. Carry on writing!

Well, I’m writing to give you some advice about keeping fit and healthy. One idea is to visit a nearby gym and start an aerobic programme. If you exercise three times a week you will soon see the results. I think you should also improve your eating habits. You ought to get rid of all the junk food in the house. The best thing would be to start with a rich healthy breakfast in the morning, avoid sweets and ice cream during the day and have a light dinner in the evening. Finally, why don’t you start going for long walks at the weekend. It will help you a lot.

In my opinion, this way of life makes you look better and feel more confident. That’s my advice. The final decision is yours. Good luck!

Beat wishes,

Christina

Essay about how to learn a foreign language :)

Learning a foreign language can help you to communicate with other people from different countries. However, sometimes it is very difficult to remember the vocabulary. So, our tips below will help you to remember all the words more easily.

First of all, you should read articles and activities on the Internet because in that way you will enrich your vocabulary. Moreover, you can have your own blog and blog in English. If you do that, you will learn to write excellent essays using wonderful words. Additionally, you can exchange emails with native speakers of the foreign language.

More ways to learn new vocabulary is to watch English movies with English subtitles or listen to English songs and read their lyrics. Reading comics can help you, as well. Furthermore, when you find new words and phrases you can note them down in your phrasebook. You can also create a vocabulary calendar (a notebook in which you will make up a sentence using a new word every day).

To summarize, as far as I’m concerned, it is not so difficult to remember new vocabulary following my advice.

Essay on watching television

Watching television is

a complete waste of time

Television has entered our lives and haw influenced our routine. Many people spend hours in front of a TV screen, but others think that it is a complete waste of time.

In my opinion, there are some positive points. Firstly, it is educational. It gives us lots of information and knowledge. Secondly, it is informative. For example, documentaries can inform us about different places or animals. Furthermore, it is relaxing and it is a good company when you feel alone.

On the other hand, there are some negative points, too. One disadvantage is that television shows too many commercials. In addition, there are some bad programmes with too much violence that affects the behavior of young people. Finally, it can damage our health. For instance, it is bad for our eyes and when we watch TV all day we do not exercise and put on weight. Also, we do not communicate with our family and friends.

To sum up, I believe that TV is a great invention and we can learn lots of thing from it, but we should not forget the dad points and be very careful when we watch it.

Essay of being rich and successful

The advantages and the disadvantages

of being rich and successful

Many people wish they were rich and successful. At first glance, it looks ideal. However, life is not always easy for people who are rich and successful.

There are many advantages to this. For example, you have a lot of money, so you cab afford to buy everything you want or go on many trips and travel abroad. Furthermore, you may find a job more easily and provide a good future for your children and your family.

On the other hand, there are some disadvantages, as well. For instance, people might want to become friends with you just because you are rich and successful. In addition to this, your job might be stressful and take a lot of your time so you will not be able to spend enough quality time with your family.

From my point of view, being rich and successful surely helps you a lot, but having health, happiness and a family are the thing that are really important in life.

Formal letter (to a newspaper) about traffic congestion

Dear Sir/Madam,

I read your article about traffic congestion two days ago. I agree with you that the large number of cars on the roads is another problem that we have to deal with.

Well, there are various examples which show the seriousness of the problem. People use their cars more and more to get where they want even if this is two minutes walk. As a result, people are becoming lazier. In addition, nowadays there are two to three cars pre family.

In order to solve the traffic problem we can take the following measures. First of all, we can dedicate lanes for bikes and start using them. In this way, people can exercise, save money and avoid traffic jams. Also, we can charge cars to enter the city centre or build more car parks where people can leave their cars and use public transport. Moreover, means of public transport must be punctual and cheap. My last suggestion is car pooling.

In conclusion, from my point of view, we should all realize the problem and take action to reduce it.

Yours faithfully,

Mavradonaki Christina