Lingva Musketeers

Valjevo Walker: LJUBICA AND PETRIJA

2008-07-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

-by Ljiljana Ljiljak, Valjevo Walker, Kolubara, Oct 1994

Translated by Katarina Vicentijevic

Not a single one of these new lamps, benches, jardinieres (wooden or brick), not even the floor mosaic, the fountain and the clock in Knez Miloseva (Prince Miloš’) Street can reach the inventiveness and authenticity of two small details that are used to name the most valuable and unusual parts of this famous shopping street: plates with the inscriptions “Princess Ljubica’s Square” and “Petria’s Wreath”.

Those two inscriptions are also rare for their artistic solution. One of them is placed vertically, with a longer side up on Despotovic’s house, and the other is across the street on “Janko Veselinovic” bookstore, both bent, which almost gives them the third dimension.

Their author, Dusan Arsenic, remembers, perplexed even today, the entire sequence of events which proved how the traditionally long and complicated procedure for this kind of works can be avoided. He wonders at the same time that those signs stand there even today. Nothing, however, would have become of it if that magician of so many possible and impossible things in the town, Branko Lukic, hadn’t asked himself four years ago, when the reconstruction of the street began: „What can suit Prince Milos better than Princess Ljubica!“ This is how that little square got its name! And to do justice to history and other things, the other Prince’s love, Petrija, also got its place in that genuine story - an alley with a beautiful garden was named “Petria’s Wreath”!

Those are the details that make Knez Miloseva or Prince Miloš’ Street memorable, everything else, though remarkably decorative, has already been seen.

Valjevo Walker: MOSAIC

2008-07-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

-by Ljiljana Ljiljak, Valjevo Walker, Kolubara March 1995

Translated by Stefan Radovanović

It’s been eight years since the mosaic, which shows the Execution of Serbian Headmen, was removed from the bevelled corner wall of the Grand Hotel. The large facade slab with the mosaic was taken into the basement of the Jablanica company headquarters. It was said those days: only temporarily. It was mentioned then, in the days and years of great town renovation and rediscovery, that the mosaic should be placed on the First Uprising Quay, at the imaginary exit from „the wooden bridge“, because there it would most naturally testify to that significant event and place.

Then there came different times and different ideas how the town should mark the execution of Serbian Headmen.

The mosaic was placed on the bevelled corner wall of the Grand Hotel during the first major reconstruction in 1960. The town was preparing to salute the unveiling of the Monument to Revolution Fighters on Vidrak hill, so it was considered proper to refurbish the lodging for the guests, high-ranking and respected persons. Someone came up then with a good idea that the town must also pay respect to that first, historically fateful act.

The author of that mosaic, removed and hidden from the public eye for a long time, is Ljubodrag Jankovic Jale, the artist who has made another permanent piece of art for this town – the painting of Valjevo through its six centuries of existence.

Valjevo Walker: The Factory

2008-07-25T13:15:00.000-07:00

by Ljiljana Ljiljak, Valjevo Walker, Kolubara, Nov 2006

Translated by Milos Savic

Radojka Rada Jeftic, spends her retirement days in the Kolubara housing estate, facing the new “Gorenje” factory. She followed up its construction completely, from the very start until the last days before the opening, when they digged, levelled, and planted the area from the street to the factory with grass. ‘Finally,’ says she, ‘somebody has remembered to tidy up a large area, which used to be turned into a jungle and dump for all sorts of things on a piece of town land.’ On a town plot with protruding remains of started-but-abandoned contruction site of Valjevo Sports Centre with an indoor pool. ‘If only this would stir the town to at least fill the holes on the other side of the road there would be less mud, maybe even the grass would grow. They do not need too much for that, they just need to “remember”,’ states Rada.

And this event with the new factory, which shines at night flooded by light like a spacecraft, only gives her ground to conclude that something is finally going to be offered to young people. To work! She says that we have forgotten how to build factory halls, that the “rip-off” of her former company called “Stefil” will also be forgotten. First of all, it has been forgotten how those “abandoned and overgrown” factories were built. Yes, she was a worker in that factory, but she helped together with her colleagues to asphalt the area around the factory as well as a road through that area. That used to be done, too. Not that there was justice for everybody in those days. However, we built and worked. Everything after that, including the legalized robbery, need not and must not have happened.

Valjevo Walker: CROCUSES

2008-07-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

by Ljiljana Ljiljak, Valjevo Walker, Kolubara Nov 2007

Translated by Kristina Mijatovic

„It’s been my second time in Serbia, and it’s nice that they’ve made it possible for me to see your beautiful landscapes. I really enjoyed myself while visiting the area surrounding the Rovni dam. What surprised me were crocuses in meadows, especially at this time of the year. They were everywhere. This is an unusual sight for us coming from England since we have completely destroyed our meadow flowers, by using chemicals to kill weed in the grass. In your country, they grow in meadows, even in autumn. You are not aware how precious that is!“

This is how Desmond Volling, an Englishman, the world expert for erosions and torrents, talks admiringly about a scene, which he will always remember, when, for a short time, on a rainy September day, he was in the mountainous area from which the waters pour down into the river Jablanica. Are we aware of that treasure, those crocuses, the bluish flowers on our pastures?

Valjevo Walker: WITHOUT A CONCEPT

2008-07-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

by Ljiljana Ljiljak, Valjevo Walker, Dec 2007

Translated by Predrag Milicevic

All interventions along Valjevo's most important and main street, Karadjordjeva street, have confirmed for a long time that hastily done work, whenever and whoever thought it might be needed, ruins the naturaly formed whole and degrades each value it offers.

It is good that Archpriest Mateja Nenadovic’s monument and development of piazzetta between Ilkic’s court buildings have permanently expelled parking from the narrow sidewalk. Unfortunately, the replication of what was achieved on the other side, from Valjevo Library up to the Central Restaurant, the so-called ’’Green Stream’’ has failed, despite good intentions. There is too much stone in a small space, so neither the greenery nor passers-by can breathe. It has taken a long time before architecht Branko Ristic and his colleagues have shown that the sidewalk need not be asphalted, that it can even be colored, that there is place for pedestrians and lines of trees, even for benches and small gardens. All of this on the left side of Karadjordjeva Street, opposite the Town Square, which still hasn’t been completely paved.

Nor were there thoughtful intentions when at the expense of the precious park full of tall trees with lush green tops, the only public green surface all along the street, the piece of land was taken away to widen the sidewalk. Now the depressing mass of asphalt stands gaping even when the cars are parked on it, without a clue why it was done and why it should have been done. Now even if there is a reason, the way it is done looks as though it emerged from some times gone by when the asphalt really mattered and made us feel to be a step forward.

The town has long needed a team for seemingly unimportant things, like sidewalks, lawns, curbs, litter bins, benches...To care about the look of the whole which is given its overall verification through its parts.

Translation Project: Valjevo Walker

2008-05-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Lingva Muskeeters,

Our next task is to translate short articles from Valjevo Walker section published in Kolubara magazine. The first step will be to read a number of issues and choose the most interesting accounts. This will be followed by translation, correction, and finally you will illustrate your work with appropriate photographs.

Mira

Film Review by Predrag Milicevic

2008-04-11T11:20:00.000-07:00

"The Transformers: The Movie" and "Beowulf"

We live in a time where the art of film making has gone one step beyond. The art of animation has been perfectionised with a little help of the up-to-date technologies, which feature graphic components capable of creating realistic images which can fool the human eye and can bring to life anything beyond our wildest imagination, mystic creatures and even worlds. All it takes is a little imagination and precision, and of course money, to create a masterpiece such as ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''Ice age''.

As a fan of good animation I would like to say something about the film ''The Transformers: the Movie'', based on the cartoon and toys that has recently been shown in cinemas and has recieved a positive critic, and ''Beowulf'', a remake of the film from 1999 that came after ''transformers'', was a major disappointment regarding animation.

As the title suggests, the film ''Transformers'' is about bio-mechanical life forms from outter space, who can transform into man maid techonologies and who invade planet Earth, on which the showdown good against evil takes place to decide the faith of humanity. This film features the most advanced animations ever created, and along with Sreven Spilberg and Michael Bay responsible for the dynamic plot and risky stunts managed to create a melange of sci-fi, action and comedy. The transformations were initially been made to follow the laws of physics and that's what makes this film realistic. Every detail is flawless, movements fluent and the plot is just insane.

On the other hand, ''Beowulf'', which I was eager to watch, turned out to be a disappointment because even the main characters, such as Angelina Jolile and Ray Winston were totaly animated. Unfortunately, the animations were obvious and easily to spot. The facial movements are stiff, the skin is shiny and low in detail. However, the plot is very good, with a mixture of mythology, old beliefs and old cultures and bloody sequences as well. The major mistakes of this film would be the unnecessary computerised main characters, which in my oppinion, costs more than normal acting. I'm still wondering why they did that if the actors are already present, and you can't get more real than that. The money shouldn't have been a problem. Stars such as Angelina Jolie are only to see on high budget films.

By contrasting these two films, you can clearly see that there is no room for error, that every move has to fit perfectly or the project will be in jeperdy. You have to compliment the real masterminds' behind such big projects, who have to have a steady hand, eyes of an eagle for every smallest detail and nerves to produce something that you can be proud of.

Film Review by Katarina Vicentijevic

2008-04-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Chicago

Latest Tim Burton film “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” could be characterized as one of the best musicals ever made. Based on a hit Broadway musical from 19th century, the story is about Benjamin Barker, a barber sent away by Judge Turpin, who comes back to London under name Sweeney Todd. He opens a barber shop above Mrs. Lovett’s Meat Pie Shop, with whose help he assassinates corrupted aristocracy. His biggest wish is to reunite with his daughter, who is being “imprisoned” by Judge Turpin.
Staring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman, this film is going to keep you on the edge of your seat and impress you both with special effects, such as blood, costumes, make up, and, above all, the acting. Throughout most of the film, everything is gray, just like the soul of protagonist. Singing is magnificent- Johnny Depp’s vocal abilities are one more detail that makes this film extraordinary.
On the other hand, although “Chicago” won the Oscar for the best film a few years ago, I do not share opinion with those who say that it was the one that deserved it. The story is about two murderers Roxie Hart, who killed her lover when she found out he wouldn’t make her famous, and Velma Kelly, who killed her husband and sister after finding them in bed together. Two of them fight for glory in order to save themselves from dying.
I find plot far less interesting and dynamic than in “Sweeney Todd”, and, though the cast is pretty good, neither Richard Gere nor Rene Zellweger justified my expectations. Singing and choreography are absolutely fine, though not that exceptional as in “Sweeney Todd”. From my point of view, plot in “Chicago” is too common and predictable as there have been many films with similar motives. Some motives from “Sweeney Todd” might also be common, but the ending is far from being common.
I highly recommend watching these two films as in that way you will be able to decide on your own whether I was right.

YALS Literary Competition

2008-03-27T03:43:00.001-07:00

Dear Lingva Achievers,

Once again, YALS Association of Language Schools of Serbia is organising a literary competition, inviting applicants at this level of proficiency to submit their papers on the following topic:
An international student magazine regularly features a page called "Contrasts". Write a review for this page contrasting two films of the same genre which you have seen; one of which you enjoyed, and one of which you found disappointing.

Write your review in about 250 words. The submission deadline is April 11, and the winners names will be announced on April 18. The winners will be awarded books in English .

Mira

Film Review by M. Markovic: Futurama

2007-11-23T12:23:00.000-08:00

Futurama is an animated film by Matt Groening, who is also a creator of popular TV seria ''The Simpsons''. As you watch it for the first time, you see a similarity between characters, so is not hard to see relation between the two.
The name of the main character in the Futurama is Fry whose job is pizza delivering. He is very funny in some way, but a bit clumsy. Somehow he was freezed for many years on Earth and he realised that it is the year 3000. and that he is now in a totaly new world. He meets there a few friends: robot Bender and one-eye girl called Leela. Later, during the film, they will be assigned to deliver lug nuts to planet called Chapek 9, inhabited by robots who hate humans. Therefore, they decided to send Bender to deliver the lug nuts, but it wasn’t as easy as they expected because Bender liked the planet and he wanted to stay there. However, “our good robot” has been caught by other robots but he managed to send signals to the space ship. Fry and Leela decide to rescue Bender by disguising into robots, but that wasn’t so great idea because they have been caught and sent to trial. What’s more, Bender was ordered by judges to kill his friends. He was neither in a good position- he can stay there, be famous if he accepts to kill Fry and Leela, or go back on Earth and continue his usual life with humans.
What would happen next? Is this a story with happy ending, or not? You will find out if you see the film. In my opinion, Futurama is great film and I think that everybody should see it! Find out more about life in the future, especially about 3000 Blernsball – the most famous sport in the future. I am sure you’ll like it!

Film Review: Fear of Bot by K.Mijatovic

2007-11-06T02:27:00.000-08:00

"Futurama" is utterly interesting and lively film full of action. It is a funny story for all ages. Also, it has some dramatic moments . The author is the same as in the popular TV series "The Simpsons", which, by the way, made great success, and that fact helps "Futurama" to become popular and well accepted by the audience.
Since "Futurama" is cartoon, characters' arrearances are totally creative and exciting. The main characters are an ordinary human being from planet Earth called Fry, Bender, witty and curious robot and their intelligent alien friend Leela.
The story takes place on the planet Earth in the year 3000, which is inhabited by aliens. Besides Earth, there is a gloomy robots' planet Chapek 9. The conflict is based on warlike relation between humans and robots. Crucial moment is when Bender has to make hard choice between great life with robots and friendship.
I think this is an unique kind of film because it is based on a futuristic story but also contains truly humane emotions like friendship and unselfishness. The genre of this innovative cartoon movie is appropriate for everyone who wants to have a good laugh and in the same time to be thrilled by captivating and convincing dramatic situations. One of many funny moments in the film is, for exemple, when Leela and Fry try to "robot up" during their visit to Chapek 9.
In my opinion, "Futurama" is gripping and memorable movie which characters are adventurous, brave and exceedingly entertaining. I think it is inevitable that you will like it.

Film Review: Fear of Bot by S.Radovanovic

2007-11-06T02:26:00.000-08:00

Futurama is a film directed by the same man who created "The Simpsons". That's not hard to notice, as all the characters are same as ones in popular TV series.
The main character in the film is Fry, a pizza delivery boy, who ended up in a time capsule and wakes up in the year 3000. In a totally new world he meets two new friends: robot Bender and one-eye girl, Leela. As the film continues they will be assigned to deliver lug nuts on planet Chapek 9, inhabited by robots. During the mission they knew that robots on Chapek 9 hate humans and if they see one, they will immediately kill him. So they decided Bender to go and deliver the lug nuts. But unexpectedly Bender gets caught by other robots. He manages to send a signal to a space ship where Fry and Leela were. They both decide to disguise into robots using metal beans and stuff they could find and rescue Bender. After they find him, he refuses their offer of rescue, because he likes the planet. Meanwhile Fry and Leela were placed on a trial and all the robots started looking for them. They were found and Bender was ordered to kill his friends.
If you want to know whether this story has a happy ending or not, you should see it. I would recommend it to anyone, even elders. It is full of humour, good jokes, excitement and new unusual things. Meed the Robot Elders and find out more about 3000 blernsball. You'll definitely like it.

Film Review: Fear of Bot by M.Savic

2007-11-06T02:25:00.000-08:00

Matt Groening, the creator and executive director of “The Simpsons” has again done something superb. He created “Futurama”, another animated film for every population of watchers. “Fear Of The Planet Bot” and the whole serial of “Futurama” is taking place in year 3000..
Main characters are Fry, Leela and Bender.
Fry is an ordinary human who was frozen in year 2000. and again melted in year 3000.. He was a complete loser when he lived on planet Earth 2000. years ago. He had not had too many friends at that time, and he had serious problem with his girlfriend. He was a pizza-delivery boy and had problems with his income. After melting in year 3000., he has not changed at all, considering his behaviour and character. He is inconspicuous, open and friendly, but sometimes shy and reserved in showing his temporary feelings. He has got a new job. He is a space delivery boy, working in a team with Leela and Bender.
Leela is an one-eye female alien. She is Fry’s colleague and friend. She is cheerful and mischevious, but as a member of delivery crew she is trying to be bossy and a leader. In other words, she is a dainty-curious alien. She is very energetic just like Marge from “The Simpsons”.
Finally, Bender. Bender is an intelligent and cheerful robot. He is sometimes felling underestimated by humans, because people make robots in order to help them in their everyday’s life.
The story ‘Fear Of The Planet Bot” starts when Fry, Leela and Bender were ordered to deliver lug-nuts to planet Chapek 9. Chapek 9 is a planet of robots without people. In fact, robots from Chapek 9 hate people and kill people. They humt humans and make human-horror films. That was the main reason why Bender had to land alone to Chapek 9 and deliver lug-nuts. The queston is why do robots hate people on this planet? The answer is very simple. The autorities of Chapek 9 have invented the “human-hate” just to distract robot citizens from their real problem - not enough lug-nuts.
After landing on planet Bender gets caught and arrested, and Fry and Lela landed on the planet in order to rescue Bender. They have dressed themselves as robots. After a few minutes on the planet they were caught and proceeded on trial. In that moment they saw Bender as a robot leader which he became after telling other robots that he killed billions of people. But why did he told such a lie? Because he felt self-consious and he was hurt because of underestimating robots by people. He realized that earlier in the middle of a blernsball match (sport similar to baseball, but much more cruel for players and much more interesting for observers). After trial for being humans they were proceeded to Robot Elders who ordered Bender to kill Fry And Leela. Bender did not had strength to kill his friends and escaped together with them from Chapek 9, delivering lug-nuts from their flying machine and hopefully solved robots problem.

Film Review: Fear of Bot by P.Milicevic

2007-11-06T02:23:00.000-08:00

Futurama presents one of the best cartoons created by Matt G,who became popular for the global known family from Springfield “The Simpsons”. It gives us a sneak preview to our possible future, and also brings up problems facing people nowadays but in a funny, hidden way.
The story begins in the present when an ordinary pizza delivery boy named Fry, a loser who everybody mocks and has no friends, stumbles across a creogenic freezing machine and accidently got trapped which resolved a winter sleep that lasted thousand years. Scared an confused in the beginning, he quickly adapts to the new environment but gets stuck with a similar job- now he delivers packages all over the universe. He teams up with Leela, the beautiful,peaceful kind Cyclopean girl who helps Fry in every situation, and Bender, the depressed robot who used to built suicide pots for robot and now wants to drown his guilt in alcohol and other illegal things.
In this episode we can clearly see the relationship between humans and robots. At a game of blernsball 3000, similar to baseball, Bender freaks out by the fact that only humans are aloud to compete and do all the dirty work. He feels like a little toaster tossed by side with no meaning and purpose in life. His rage got so big that he can't think straight. When they were on a mission to deliver a package to the planet Chapek 9, a junk planet inhabited by killer robots who despise humans with every inch of their mechanical body. Because Bender is the only one allowed to deliver the package he quickly gets “robot napped”. Frightened to death he makes up lies about his hatred towards humans and they soon accept him like a god. His big lies bring him fame and fortune. A dream come true! Everything he ever wanted was in the palm of his hand.
But when the robots capture Fry and Leela and sentences them to death, he realises that he doesn't need all that, that friendship is everything he ever needed.
Everything turns out well in the end. They escape from the planet and successfully delivering the precious cargo which contained lug nuts the robots desired most.
This episode clearly reflects the we have today, what people go trough to get what they want.
Everyone should have a look at Futurama. It's a funny cartoon with a lot of comedy which brings up many questions and makes you want to think about it.

Film Review: Fear of Bot by K.Vicentijevic

2007-11-06T02:20:00.000-08:00

If you like “The Simpsons”, you will certainly like “Futurama”, TV show made by Matt Groening, who also created one of the most popular TV shows nowadays. Weather you are 7 or 77 you will enjoy watching this entertaining sitcom which, I am sure, will make you cry out laughing.
On the first sight you can see the author is the same, as plenty of the characters look a lot like the citizens of Springfield. Only this time, some other characters appear- Leela, one-eyed alien and Bender, a robot. Those two are only friends of Fry, an ordinary pizza delivery guy, who accidentally freezes himself and wakes up in year 3000.
While attending a New New York Yankees blernsball game at Madison Cube Garden, three of them are called back to the office for a delivery mission. The delivery of lug nuts is to be done to Chapek 9, a planet inhabited by human-hating robots, so Bender is assigned to performe the actual delivery. Upon arriving at the planet, a resentful Bender is lowered to the surface using the ship's winch. Fry and Leela receive a message from Bender, who has been captured by the robot separatists for being a human sympathizer. In order to avoid being killed on sight, Fry and Leela disguise themselves as robots, and infiltrate the robot society. In order to see what happens next, you wil have to watch this amazing episode!
Many would say this is one of the funniest episodes of “Futurama”, because of Bender’s and some other irrelevant characters’ lines. This episode is full of clever remarks and laugh-out-loud moments. What audience also liked were the names of the robot holidays that Bender came up with, such as Robonukah. If you ask me, I think this is the best episode for Bender’s funs.
As you can see, the storyline shows that this episode is excellent and will make you laugh. So I warmly recommend watching it because I am sure that none of those who watched it was disappointed. Check and see it yourself!

FILM REVIEW ASSIGNMENT

2007-10-02T04:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Students,

Your new task is to watch a film from the Futurama series called Fear of the Planet Bot and to write a film review. Here are the guidelines that you should follow:

•Film background information

•Characters

•Plot
•Opinions
•Recommendation

After you write the review, you will check each other's papers and assess your work on the basis of a set rubric.

Mira

FAMILY SITUATION IN SERBIA

2007-06-02T05:57:00.000-07:00

-by Katarina Vićentijević

INTRODUCTION
This report aims to describe relationships betwen members of one typical family in Serbia as compared with families in developed countries. Serbia is not a member of Europian Union, wich means that living standards here are lower than in the countries of the "Third World" and that a large number of population do not have an easy life.

A TYPICAL FAMILY
A typical family in Serbia has three or four members and, as the number of unemployed is growing every day, there are many families that live on only one salary, or live helped by the social service. There are also examles of families where parents have difficulties with providing their children normal life and education, despite the fact that they are employed and have finished university.

RECENT CHANGES
On the other hand, if you look at a typical family that lived 25 years ago, you will see some differences in behaviour of children to their parents. For example, my parents had more complicated life than I do, they respected their parents more, and appreciated more the sacrifices my grandparents made for them. I do not say that I do not respect my parents, but it is truth that children today can be very ungrateful. However, back at that time there were social differences betwen people and that was something that affected poor families.

CONCLUSION
All things considered, I think that a typical Serbian family is far from being stable, as long as parents support their children after finishing university. Compared with the western families, where teenagers work in order to help their parents financially, situation in Serbia is pretty strange. My attitude is that we sholud teach our children to face life seriosly.

FAMILY SITUATION IN SERBIA

2007-06-02T05:48:00.000-07:00

-by Predrag Milicevic

INTRODUCTION
The picture of a typical modern family gives us the opportunity to recognize the many things that have changed between family members for about 20 years. The main thing that can be visibly seen is the relationship between parents and children.

A TYPICAL FAMILY
Modern kids are left alone by themselves to build up character watching the so called "Successful individuals", appearing on TV shows, magazines and internet, and so they develop wrong attitudes about moral value and behavior in their surrounding. Instead of parents, mass-media has taken the role of the educator as well as people surrounding them. This leads to the fact that bothparents have to work 10 hours a day, and when back home are too exhausted to participate in child activities. The biggest paradox is that they are working in order to enable their children a life which they would like to have, and so making a big mistake which creates distance between children who want parental attention rather than a new cell phone.

RECENT CHANGES
By drawing a parallel between modern behavior andthat from about 20 years ago we come to a conclusionthat we also joined the world where money meanseverything, without moral value that makes normalsurroundings. Children today are forced to go outside and play with friends in order to keep them away from computers which replaced everything that kids used to grow up with. Before democracy appeared, people lived under weird and difficult circumstances, to turn into machines over whom we used to joke, for example- "Look at them, they are just working while we are relaxing at bars".

CONCLUSION

The truth is that from a specific nation we evolved into standard people who live by western standards where there is a lot time to work, but so little time for children. Once we were free, now we are slaves.

REPORT WRITING FOR YALS LITERARY COMPETITION

2007-06-01T02:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Lingva Musketeers,

An international organization has asked you to write a report for a survey it is carrying out into key social changes around the world. They would like you to describe THE TYPICAL FAMILY SITUATION IN YOUR COUNTRY TODAY, any important changes that have occured over the last 25 years and the probable reasons for these changes. They have asked you to conclude by giving your opinion of the importance of the family unit in your society. Write a 250-word report.

Mira

Open source

2007-02-06T13:01:00.000-08:00

Open source describes the principles and methodologies to promote open access to the production and design process for various goods, products and resources. The term is most commonly applied to the source code of software that is made available to the general public with either relaxed or non-existent intellectual property restrictions. This allows users to create user-generated software content through either incremental individual effort, or collaboration.Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet and its enabling of diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.[1] Subsequently, open source software became the most prominent face of open source practices.The open source model can allow for the concurrent use of different agendas and approaches in production, in contrast with more centralized models of development such as those typically used in commercial software companies.[2] "Open source" as applied to culture defines a culture in which fixations are made generally available. Participants in such a culture are able to modify those products and redistribute them back into the community. The term was given a big boost at an event organized in April 1998 by technology publisher Tim O'Reilly.Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source

by Jovan Bozovic and Stefan Radovanovic

User-generated content

2007-02-06T12:59:00.000-08:00

User-generated content (UGC) refers to various kinds of media content that is produced or primarily influenced by end-users; as opposed to traditional media producers, licensed broadcasters, and production companies. The term came into the mainstream during 2005 in web publishing and new media content production circles. It reflects the expansion of media production through new technologies that are accessible and affordable to the general public. These include digital video, blogging, podcasting, mobile phone photography and wikis. In addition to these technologies, user-generated content may also employ a combination of open source, free software and relaxed restrictions on intellectual property, which further diminish the barriers to collaboration, skill-building and discovery.Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User-generated_content

by Jovan Bozovic and Stefan Radovanovic

Folksonomy

2007-02-06T12:38:00.000-08:00

A folksonomy is an Internet-based information retrieval methodology consisting of collaboratively generated, open-ended labels that categorize content such as Web pages, online photographs, and Web links.

The term folksonomy is generally attributed to Thomas Vander Wal [4], who created the word to describe a phenomenon that had already taken recognizable form

Folksonomy may hold the key to developing a Semantic Web, in which every Web page contains machine-readable metadata that describes its content

Folksonomies are inherently open-ended and can therefore respond quickly to changes, innovations and fads in the way users categorize Internet content
Taken from www.wikipedia.org

www.Folksonomy.org

compiled by Katarina V. and Predrag M.

Long tail

2007-02-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

The phrase The Long Tail (as a proper noun with capitalized letters) was first coined by Chris Anderson in an October 2004 Wired magazine article to describe certain business and economic models such as Amazon.com or Netflix. The term long tail is also generally used in statistics, often applied in relation to wealth distributions or vocabulary use.

An Amazon employee described the Long Tail as follows: "We sold more books today that didn't sell at all yesterday than we sold today of all the books that did sell yesterday."The same could be said for Amazon's book inventory or Netflix's movie inventory. The total volume of low popularity items exceeds the volume of high popularity items.

Taken from:
http://en.wikipedia.org

compiled by
Katarina & Katarina

Podcast

2007-02-06T12:30:00.001-08:00

"Podcast" means a specific type of Broadcast, where the Work is incorporated into a file (which may contain one or more works and/or other material) which may be played on an iPod or similar device by individuals who have downloaded such file.

The concept of podcasting was suggested as early as 2000 and its technical components were available by 2001, then implemented in the program Radio Userland [1]. In 2003 regular podcasts started showing up on well-known Web sites and software support spread.

The publish/subscribe model of podcasting is a version of push technology, in that the information provider chooses which files to offer in a feed and the subscriber chooses among available feed channels.
Podcasting is an automatic mechanism whereby multimedia computer files are transferred from a server to a client

www.podcast.net

taken from www.law.com and www.wikipedia.org
cmpiled by Katarina Vicentijevic and Predrag Milicevic

Web 2.0

2007-02-06T12:30:00.000-08:00

Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2004,[1] refers to a perceived or proposed second generation of Web-based services—such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies—that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users. O'Reilly Media, in collaboration with MediaLive International, used the phrase as a title for a series of conferences, and since 2004 some technicians and marketers have adopted the catch-phrase. Its exact meaning remains open to debate, and some experts, have questioned whether the term has meaning.[2]
The last, compact, definition of Web 2.0, according to Tim O'Reilly is this one:

"Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. "
taken from www.wikipedia.com

2007-02-06T12:23:00.000-08:00

Blogosphere is the collective term encompassing all blogs as a community or social network. Many weblogs are densely interconnected; bloggers read others' blogs, link to them, reference them in their own writing, and post comments on each others' blogs. Because of this, the interconnected blogs have grown their own culture.
Blogosphere and blogsphere may also be references to the fictional home planet of the Vogons, "Vogsphere" in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
taken from www.wikipedia.com

" The blogosphere that Technorati tracks continues to show significant growth."
take from www.sifry.com

Crowdsourcing

2007-02-06T12:15:00.002-08:00

"Crowdsourcing" is a neologism for a business model that depends on work being done outside the traditional company walls: while outsourcing is typically performed by lower paid professionals, crowdsourcing relies on a combination of volunteers and low-paid amateurs who use their spare time to create content, solve problems, or even do corporate R&D.

I've been developing a book proposal on crowdsourcing for the last several months, a process that reached a happy conclusion last Thursday when Crown Publishing Group bought the rights to publish the book, which is slated to hit shelves in the Spring of 2008.

According to internal documents provided to Wired News and interviews with key executives, Gannett, the publisher of USA Today as well as 90 other American daily newspapers, will begin crowdsourcing many of its newsgathering functions.

Taken from:
www.wired.com
http://crowdsourcing.typepad.com
http://en.wikipedia.org

compiled by
Katarina & Katarina

Avatar

2007-02-06T12:15:00.001-08:00

Is an Internet user's representation of himself or herself, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games,[1] a two-dimensional icon used on Internet forums and other communities,[2][3] or a text construct found on early systems such as MUDs. The term "avatar" can also refer to the personality connected with the screen name, or handle, of an Internet user.[4]
Origin
The "avatar" derives from the Sanskrit word Avatāra, meaning "incarnation" and usually implying a deliberate descent into mortal realms for special purposes. The term is used primarily in Hindu texts. For example, Krishna is the eighth avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu the Preserver, whom many Hindus worship as God. The Dasavatara are ten particular "great" incarnations of Vishnu..

Example of an avatar as used on Internet forums. Notable features include decorative border and small (100x100px) size.
A searchable archive of free forum avatars.

yahoo- www.yahoo.com , all forums on the internet

taken from www.wikipedia.org

Compiled by Katarina V and Predrag M.

digerati

2007-02-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

The digerati are the elite of the computer industry and online communities. The word is a portmanteau, derived from "digital" and "literati", and reminiscent of the earlier coinage glitterati ([1], glitter + literati). Famous computer scientists, tech magazine writers and well-known bloggers are included among the digerati.
taken from www.wikipedia.com

"Digerati has pioneered the development of tariff compliance software for almost 10 years now."
taken from www.digerati.com.au

ASSIGNMENT: NEW WORDS QUEST

2007-02-06T05:53:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of some new words/phrases in ICT English:

1 Web 2.0
2 Blogosphere
3 Digerati
4 Avatar
5 Podcast
6 Folksonomy
7 User-generated content
8 Open source
9 Crowdsourcing
10 Long tail

1. Choose a partner, search the web and find the following for two of them:
1) Definition
2) Etymology
3)Two examples of use in sentences
4) One or two examples of typical web sites based on them

Do not forget to cite the source of information.

2. Read the information compiled by other students and choose two words/phrases that you would like to remember.

3. Share your words/phrases with other students. Discuss what makes them interesting for you.

Story Review by Milos Savic

2007-01-19T11:33:00.000-08:00

''One of These Days'' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Gabriel Garcia Marquez has done an amazing thing. He wrote a story which vividly depicts different people’s characters. „One of These Days“ clearly shows that we are not the same in our ways of living, earning and taking on our responsibilities.
It is written in a way which is typical for realistic writing. The story is organized in a very smooth way. Great attention is given to details and the main events are presented so clearly, that you think you are in the cinema while reading about them.
The story is about a dentist called Aurelio Escovar. He is a dentist without a degree. He has a son who is very loyal to him. He calls him „papa“, and not „dad“ like some children, which shows that he loves and respects him. They live in a small house which has one modest room, used for his operations. It has basic equipment and one old dilapidated wooden chair. The story probably takes place in Mexico or some other Latin country, judging by the name of the main character.
The story starts at the moment when the mayor comes to the dentist with a strong toothache. Aurelio is sharply mad at the mayor, because his government killed twenty men. Aurelio does not want to operate on the mayor, but he is threatened with a gun, so he has to do it. He also has to operate on the mayor because that is his medical obligation. He tells the mayor that he has an abscess and that he must operat on him without anesthesia. He deliberately causes pain to the mayor in order to punish him for his crime. That shows his anger and his will for revenge. At the end, the mayor leaves without paying his bill, because he treats his citizens as his own servants.
To summarise, „One of These Days“ must and should be warning for all of us. This story makes us think about our behaviour to other people.

Annotated Book Review by Stefan Radovanovic

2006-12-29T04:30:00.000-08:00

CRY FREEDOM by John Briley

This story was created to show the world what life looked like in South Africa. While in the rest of the world black people were “black”, here they were still “colored” and forced to live in small and dirty houses in townships.
A proud, brave and energetic black leader, Steve Biko, is fighting against white men brutality and wants all the people in South Africa, black and white, to be equal and have the same rights. Donald Woods¹, a successful, friendly Englishman and editor of the “Daily Dispatch”, a famous newspaper there, tries to help Biko in his battle.
The story is mostly situated in East London in South Africa. It is a country well known by diamonds and gold but really poor when it comes to relationships between two societies.
That is what Biko and Donald are trying to change. Biko wants to show Donald all the suffering of his people and he takes him several times to Black Township, a few kilometers from the centre of the King William’s Town which is about 60 kilometers from East London. They also go to Zanempilo, where Biko has started a clinic only for black people, because they are not treated as they should be in other hospitals. But this is not easy as Biko is banned from leaving the old church in King William’s.
In order to help black people, Donald gives jobs to two Biko’s friends, but soon they are both imprisoned and one of them is beaten to death. The authorities try to break their friendship.
The situation gets more complicated and soon something happens to Biko and Donald has to fight alone. To make things worse, the police ban Donald and he must not leave South Africa nor print anything. He tries to escape from Africa in order to print some document but some unexpected things happen. Will he make it?
This book made me feel like I was right there with those people and realize what it was like. I think everyone should read this book and see the energy people can release when it comes to fighting for freedom, friends and family.

____________________________

NOTES

¹ Biographical Note on Donald Woods

Donald Woods was born in East London, South Africa. He studied law at the University of Cape Town. After becoming a cub reporter Donald eventually went to work for the Daily Dispatch newspaper in East London and later became the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Dispatch. After Biko's death it became clear to Woods that his family was being targeted by the government, and he decided his family needed to leave South Africa to avoid the dangerous threats. Woods then devised a plan to be smuggled out of his house, and made his way to Lesotho disguised as an Irish Catholic priest. They later flew via Botswana to London. After arriving in London, Woods became an active spokesman against apartheid and a passionate advocate of nations imposing sanctions against South Africa. He toured the United States campaigning for sanctions against apartheid. Donald returned to South Africa in 1994. He was also awarded an Order of the British Empire. Director Richard Attenborough decided to make a film, titled Cry Freedom, about Donald Woods and Steve Biko, based upon the books which Woods had written.

Annotated Book Review by Predrag Milicevic: CRY FREEDOM by John Briley

2006-12-29T04:24:00.000-08:00

“Cry Freedom”, a book written by John Briley, is based on a true story about former South Africa which was literally stolen from black people who had lived there for centuries, and suffered from the invaders, who made them live like rats.
Black people in the story believe that they can live peacefully together with white people, without hatred and war. However, white people now think that they are God-given and can do whatever they want, and they think that black people want to throw them from their throne. They become scared and treat them like rebels, ban and even kill them.
The main character is Bantu Stephen Biko¹, known to everyone as Steve, an honest, gentle and intelligent person worshiped by his own people, and “the ugly threat of black racism” to the white people.
Donald Woods, an Englishman and editor of the “Daily Dispatch” comes across some pictures which show the poor conditions in which people live and the police beating them. Although the law does not allow newspapers to print such pictures, Woods uses them even if the risk is high. When a worker gives him a picture of Steve Biko he decides to see him. Steve is banned from leaving the old church in King William’s Town guarded by the police. After the first misjudgment they become good friends. Even though he is banned, he has a few tricks in his sleeves and escapes the church to show Woods the beauty stolen by white people. But everything goes upside-down when the police hear all about it. Biko is arrested and Woods banned and he cannot leave Africa. Then a big tragedy happens. Biko is beaten black and blue and dies from serious injuries. The whole Africa is in floods of tears. To stand in a better light the police say that he died of hunger. Knowing his friend, Woods wants to show the truth to the whole world. To do that, he has to escape to England. He organizes a very risky plan to get away from the “Black continent”.
What do you think? Is the getaway successful?
This is a great book and everyone should read it to learn about the kind people who today still live in misery.

__________________________________

Notes

¹ Bigraphical Note on Bantu Stephen Biko
Biko was born in King Wiliam’s Town, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. He was a student at the university of Natal Medical School. In 1972 Biko became honorary president of the Black People’s Convention. For his actions he was banned March 1973, in an old church, and was not allowed to leave it or to see more than one person and speeches wich he held were forbidden from quoting.A large role in Biko’s life was played by the Black People’s Convention who organized protests wich led to the Soweto riots on 16 June 1976.His mission was to help black people.He firmly delieved that they should no longer be treated as a lower species, that they should live together in peace. He had done much for his people and paid the ultimate prize.

Annotated Book Review by Kristina Mijatovic

2006-12-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

Annotated Book Review by Kristina Mijatovic
One of These Days by Gabriel Garcia Marques

’’One of These Days’’ is a short story written by Gabriel Garcia Marques. The main characters of the story are the dentist Aurelio Escovar and the Mayor. The conflict occurs because of the Mayor’s toothache. The story takes place on a warm and rainless Monday morning.

The reason I loved this story is the writer’s simple language, which makes it easy to understand. It shows that the goverment people always want to be the main and the most important in the town. They think they own the whole world.

The simplicity of the dentist’s surgery indicates that he is a simple and poor man, a dentist without a degree. The writer’s detailed description of his surgery makes it possible for us to visualise the environment where he works. ’’An old wooden chair, the pedal drill, a glass case with ceramic bottles. Opposite the chair was a window with a shoulder-high cloth curtain.’’

He wears a collarless striped shirt, closed at the neck with a golden stud, and pants held up by suspenders. He is erect and skinny, with a look that rarely corresponded to the situation, the way deaf people have of looking. He is an early riser and he enjoys every moment of his work. He doesn‘t like to be disturbed wile he is working. Although he prefers not to concentrate on the object of his work, he works steadily, professionally and with understanding. He seems to be very tidy since he arranged his instruments in size order, as if they were on display.

His eleven year-old son interrupts him saying that the Mayor is there and he wants to know if he can pull his tooth. The dentist tells him to tell the Mayor he is not there since he doesn’t feel in the mood to meet him. However, the Mayor doesn’t give up because he is suffering from big toothache. The dentist keeps polishing a golden tooth without paying attention to the Mayor. His son interrupts him again saying that if he doesn’t take the Mayor’s tooth out, the Mayor will shoot him. He doesn’t get upset at all. As a matter of fact, he pulls the drawer of his table where his revolver is, saying that the Mayor can come and shoot him.

If you want to know what happens next, whether the Mayor kills the dentist or whether the dentist pulls his tooth, you will have to read the story. I liked this story because it shows two different personalities and two completely different characters. On the one side, there is a dentist who is calm, tranquil and has a lot of patience, and on the other side, there is a Mayor with his agressive behaviour. I also recommend it to you because I think you will like the simplicity of the story with its strong visual element.

Annotated Story Review by K.Vicentijevic

2006-12-01T10:46:00.000-08:00

The Character of Aurelio Escovar in
One of These Days by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

All of us go to the dentist and there is nothing strange about it. But in the story “One of These Days” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a visit to the dentist becomes very odd when the dentist Aurelio Escovar refuses to answer the Mayor’s phone call.

Aurelio is the main reason why I loved this story. His resolution to fight against the corrupted Mayor is what makes me admire him more. He is a very direct person, he gives it to everyone straight from the shoulder and that is the reason why everybody in the town hates him, not only the Mayor.
Garcia Marquez gives very clear description of the Aurelio’s surgery. You can imagine the exact look of the surgery: “…an old wooden chair, the pedal drill, a glass case with ceramic bottles.” It tells you about Aurelio’s money situation. You would expect him to have a lot of money as every dentist in the world. But he is very poor, modest and an ordinary, sometimes strange man: “He was erect and skinny with a look that rarely corresponded situation, the way deaf people have of looking.”
The only thing I do not like about Aurelio is the fact that neither he is very honest himself. What’s more, he is a dentist without a degree. In spite of all that, I respect his dilligence and dedication to his work, even though he is sometimes obsessed with it.
The way Aurelio resolves the problem with the Mayor, who comes into his surgery, is, in a certain way, interesting. In order to find out what happens in the end, I recommend you to read the story.

Story Review Assignment

2006-12-01T10:11:00.000-08:00

Dear Students,

Here is our new assignment*:

1. Read the story One of These Days by G.G.Marquez in pairs. Make notes during reading.
2. Discuss your notes and decide together what to include in your review. Go to
Literary Elements Map and agree which elements each of you will cover.
3. Look at this sample review, which also gives advice about writing reviews.
4. Don’t forget to express your opinion of the book/story and support it with explanations and
specific references to the book itself, including quotations, rather than give a brief description
of the book. Discuss your drafts and write the final review. Edit your review.
5. Annotate your review with hyperlinked reports on the author, the setting, character or
something else which is mentioned in your book. Illustrate your review with some pictures.
6. Reflect on your review. Think about what you liked and what you would do differently next
time. What kind of story are you going to read next time? Share your experience with the
whole class.

Yours,
Mira

*Adapted from Patrizia Shulze’s ''Book reviews, annotation, and web technology''

Balanced beam by Barbara Nessim

2006-10-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

Balanced beam by Barbara Nessim

Art Reviewers: Katarina Pavlovic and Marija Markovic

Description
The predominant shapes in this painting are both geometric and organic.
The major colors are primary red and yellow, contrasted with the black background, and the violet gives the feeling of depth. The colors are very saturated and warm.
We can recognize an interesting four-by-four mosaic pattern of figures drawn in the form of a rather flat texture.

Analysis
The composition is symmetrical, with one big figure in the foreground and two smaller ones in the background.
There are only lines, flat surfaces and high contrast with no shading. The artist used the technique of computer drawing, and acrylic on paper covered panel.

Interpertation
A new title for this piece could be “Good and Evil in a Person” . Colors represent two personalities of one person that affect her or his actions in all areas of life. Other people think that the painting creates a feeling of pleasure because it is colorful and harmonious.

Judgement
This artwork is significant for art history because it is formalistic and emotionalist. Barbara Nessim experiments with the art elements in an unusual way, she also emphasizes the mood and symbols.
Other people think that the picture is very expressive owing to a combination of very bright colors. It is simple but very interesting and unusual. This artwork would be interesting for older people because it is very difficult for understanding.

Art Review of Still Life of Shoes by K. Mijatovic and K. Krsmanovic

2006-10-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

Still Life of Shoes

Reviewers: Katarina Krsmanović and Kristina Mijatović

Description
In this picture we can see a pair of old worn out shoes. The background is painted in different shades of brownish-green.
The shoe colours are naturaly harmonius, mostly dark, the major colour is brown. The shapes are organic, naturalistic. The predominant lines are curvy.
Another element which dominates the picture are loose shoe laces, which impart the feel of movement to this artwork.

Analysis
The arangement is symmetrical, the colours are analogous and the texture is pretty rough. The shades are cool, with discrete contrasting effects. The technique that is used in this picture is oil on canvas.
The colours employed in shading are green,brown and gray and they make an illusion of depth.
Although this is a simple picture, there is a sense of three dimensions owing to the shadows on the left and a contrast between the central figure and the lighted background.

Interpretation
A new title for this piece could be “Abandoned Old Shoes”.
The shoes might have belonged to an old man who lived long ago and he left them because he found a new and more comfortable pair. The man could have been a miller. The shoes stand for the man’s life which was hard because he had to work the whole day and give more than half of his earnings to the mill owner.
The darkness of the colours symbolize spiritual depth of human experience. They create a sad mood and make you symphatise with their owner. The theme of the picture is hard life of poor people.

Judgement
The artist intended the work to be educational because it reminds other people that there are also classes of people who are extremely poor and live hard.

Art rewiew for Light and Shade by Katarina Vicentijevic & Predrag Milicevic

2006-10-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

Light and Shade by
Tiziana Ciaghi

Description
On this portrait we can see a young woman who is protecting her eyes from the sunlight and we can’t see them from the shadow, which looks like a scarf. Is there something hidden behind it?
The predominant shapes on this painting are organic, which is normal because it shows a woman.
Major colours are black and white, and with this choice of colors the artist must have wanted to show contrast effects.

Analysis
This monochromatic painting is painted on paper and airbrushed with ink. It is light coloured and only the outline of the woman is airbrushed to create the shape.
The artist uses shadings, which can be seen even in the name of the painting. In this case, the artist wants to show the state of mind of the painted woman.
The space is rather flat, but there is a sense of three dimensions because of the shadings. In this painting, shadings predominate in the background.

Interpertation
As already mentioned above, the background might represent her thoughts, something that causes problems, or just something to make it more mysteroious and this arouse interest.
Her eyes are covered, which shows that she is hiding something, because the eyes are the mirror of the soul and it is possible to read somebody’s thoughts by looking at their eyes.
Some people said that they would put this painting in their living-room, because they like simple pictures, with a lot of contrast.

Judgement
This painting is very valuable because it shows peoples’ feelings and at the same time their ways to hide them.

World Face by Claude Laurent

2006-10-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

World Face by Claude Laurent

Art Review for a Painting
by
Jovan Bozhovic and Danilo Ristovski project

Description:
On this painting we can see a simple outline of the human face. Geometric shapes dominate the painting and unique colors are mixed in such a way that we can clearly see the contrast between them. The colors of the background increase that contrast by complementary effect. The predominant pattern is mosaic and the texture is smooth.

Analysis:
The composition is symmetrical and grid-like (quadrant). Major colors are red, orange, yellow and green, but also black and white. This combination of colors is very effective. There are no shades on the painting, but instead of that three is a high contrast. We can’t clearly see any depth because the painting is two-dimensional and the brush strokes are blended.

Interpertation:
The “ World Face” shows different races of people on different sides of the world. The other title for painting could be a “Human Pattern”. The painting somehow tries to connect and to gather poor and rich, black and white, small and big, and here we can find the reason for the title.
The feeling that some people experience when they first look at this painting is that of distress, since the painting has a shooting target pattern. They do not think they would put this painting in their bedroom because it so enigmatic that it would always make them feel baffled.

Judgement:
We believe that this simple painting advocates harmony and cooperation between people of different colours and persuasions, as well as strong resolution to show the world that distances are not so big as they look.

Art review for Mascaras de Conversacion

2006-10-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

Art Review for Mascaras de Conversacion
by
Arillyn Moran-Lawrence

Reviewers: Stefan Radovanović and Miloš Savić

Description
This picture presents two women making masks in front of the fireplace. Light colours and both curvy lines and naturalistic shapes dominate the picture. The shades are cool and there is a marked contrast between white and dark surfaces.

Analysis
The most dominant colour is white and the colour harmony is natural. This is a mixed media technique of watercolor, India ink, and aquarelle. This imparts the look and feel of etching, painting, and printmaking blended into one. The arrangement is symmetrical.

Interpertation
These women are shown as the working members of a family. The masks they are making represent secrecy of family relationships. These women seem to be in control of their family position. The bird in the window symbolizes freedom on the one hand and control. These two women seem to know all about each other, but when they put on masks, they change their personalities.

Judgement
The artist tried to accurately describe the people and the objects and he intended the work to be educational because it shows women both in the traditional and creative roles. Other people judged the painting in a similar way. This artwork would be interesting for any category of audience as it is easthetically pleasing and intriguing at the same time.

Based on Assignment adapted from ArtsWork

ASSIGNMENT 2/06: ART REVIEW FOR A PAINTING

2006-10-01T03:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Lingva Muskeeters,

Your new assignment concerns writing an art review. It is my firm belief that
''all students deserve access to the rich education and understanding that the arts provide, regardless of their background, talents, or abilities''.

Here are the steps that you will do:

1. Familiarising with the process of art criticism
2. Analysying the sample picture
3. Choosing an intriguing painting
4. Describing the painting
5. Analysing the painting
6. Interpreting the painting
7. Judging the Painting
8. Sharing judgement with other people
9. Discussing probable audience

Your review should have 200-250 words.
Include Description, Analysis, Interpretation and Judgement as subheadings.

After I correct your reviews, you will orally present them to the class.

Useful links:
Artsworks
Artlex

Mira

Young people should never emigrate to other countries by Stefan Radovanovic

2006-09-30T10:13:00.000-07:00

Our country used to be the most progressive one in South Europe. We were 100 years in front of our neighbors and now Hungary has made it to get into EU. Why is that happening? I think there are two main reasons for that.

One of them is young people’s opinion about politics. Fewer people are interested in politics now days than there used to be. Also, many citizens think that our country “sucks” and that’s the consequence of politician’s mentality. What I mean is that every politician wants to get a higher position in the state without the aim to help this country, which slightly goes down, but just because of money.

Costs of many students who go to high schools are being paid by their own country. After they finish school, most of them emigrate to other countries to find a job. That’s because they cannot find it here, or they aren’t satisfied with the current one, because usually they can only earn living wages. In this way our state loses perspective young people and others get completely capable and educated labour. At the same time, this is the second reason for not leaving this country – lack of jobs and money.

Personally my opinion is that our country isn’t so bad. But it’s distinctly clear that if we want to be looked at in a different way, we need young people who will follow through new ideas in aim to help our state and that’s why they should never emigrate to other countries.

Young people should never emigrate to other countries by K.Vicentijevic

2006-09-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

This is a very delicate topic, especially for us who live in Serbia. I say that because many young people cannot find a job and that may be the main reason why they emigrate to other countries. However, I think that emigrating will not solve all their problems. In my opinion, there are two main reasons why young people should not leave their soil.
Firstly, the country where you are born and were you grow up and finish university is the best place for starting a business career and family life. You can never feel that safe and protected as in your own country when you live in a place where you are a complete stranger to everyone. If you have a problem, and do not have anyone to talk to about it, it can be very annoying.
Another point is that our country needs youth, wisdom and power which only young experts have. Their help is essential to us because we want to make progress, to have better life, and one day join the European Union. They have spirit we need in order to prosper, they possess strength which is necessary for us to endure on our way towards stability and Europe.
Living in Serbia may not be easy, but it is the fact that our children have something to see here and something to be proud of. Just owing to this we should fight for better life for our children, and we must not let young people leave the country. We must let them know that they are very important here, and that our future is in their hands.

ASSIGNMENT 2006/1: YALS LITERARY COMPETITION

2006-03-21T10:56:00.000-08:00

Dear Lingva Musketeers,

YALS (The Association of Language Schools of Serbia) invites contributions for a 2006 Literary Competition.The assignment for C1 level is as follows:

Write a 250-word discursive essay: Young People Should Never Emigrate to Other Countries

The competition is open until April 15, 2006 and the names of winners will be announced on May 3, 2006.The best papers from all schools will be selected by April 20, 2006 and sent to the YALS Competition Board to choose the winners at the YALS level. Each winner will be awarded a book in English, and the papers published on the YALS website.

Student's Correction of Discursive Essay by Bojana Cuk

2005-12-23T08:25:00.000-08:00

There are many endangered animals in the world,and there are many ways we can help to save them.Some of the most endangered animals are pandas.
They live in India and China.The most critical factor in the fate of pandas is human destruction.People cut down trees and hunt pandas for their fur.
We can help pandas for example if we stop hunting them and cutting trees.We should make a place just for pandas where they will be safe.That place would be full of trees,and people would go there and play with these wonderful animals.Today,there are some reserves in Southwestern China,and there is also provided a medical care.
I think that we should do everything to help animals which are in danger.They have lives as we have,so they deserve to live

1st T's Correction of Discursive Composition by B.Cuk

2005-11-30T04:20:00.000-08:00

Bojana, here are some hints about the composition sections that could be improved. Look for spelling or grammar errors. Also, you have not suggested any specific measures which could be taken to save pandas.

There are many endangered animals in the world,and there are many ways we can help to save them.One of the most endangered animals are pandas.
The pandas live in India and China,but the wild panda populatin is estimated at one thousand.The most critical factor in the fate of pandas is human destruction.They cut down trees,so pandas don’t have enough food.Pandas are usually hunted because of their fur.People sell their fur and earn a lot of money.
Pandas are situated in reserves.Some baby pandas are with their mothers,but some of them are in incubators.Today there are a total of thirty-two panda reserves in Southwestern China.In that reserves is also provided a medical care.
I think that we should do everything to help animals which are in danger.They have lives as we have,so they deserve to live.

Discursive Composition by B.Cuk

2005-11-30T04:19:00.000-08:00

There are many endangered animals in the world,and there are many ways we can help to save them.One of the most endangered animals are pandas.
The pandas live in India and China,but the wild panda populatin is estimated at one thousand.The most critical factor in the fate of pandas is human destruction.They cut down trees,so pandas don’t have enough food.Pandas are usually hunted because of their fur.People sell their fur and earn a lot of money.
Pandas are situated in reserves.Some baby pandas are with their mothers,but some of them are in incubators.Today there are a total of thirty-two panda reserves in Southwestern China.In that reserves is also provided a medical care.
I think that we should do everything to help animals which are in danger.They have lives as we have,so they deserve to live.

1st T's Correction of Discursive Composition by K.Vicentijevic

2005-11-24T02:44:00.000-08:00

What can be done to save endangered animals?

Thinking about this question should make us worried. You probably ask “Why?”. That is because not many of us think of endangered animals. There certainly are few things that can be done to save those animals. For example, what can be done to save Griffon Valture?
Firstly, the hunters who are killing Griffon Valtures should be arrested because hunting them is forbidden by the law. Once been arrested, they would never do it again.
Secondly, river Tresnica, the place where Griffon Valtures live, should be unspoiled. People are dumping waste materials there, and that can only damage their place for living. If we want to live in healthy area, we must do everything that is in our power to keep the nature unspoiled.
Finally, the man who would feed Griffon Valtures should be hired. They would also check if someone left poisoned food for Griffon Valtures to eat. That person would be paid well for the job that he/she is doing, but also had to be professional. Not everybody can work that kind of job, only lovers of animals.
All in all, I believe that there are people in our country who are capable of doing this kind of job. There are groups of people who are doing what they can to protect Griffon Valtures and nature in whole, but they do not have devices or support of the Government to fight this problem. I hope that we will solve this problem soon.

Final T's Correction of Crime Prevention Report by D.Ristovski

2005-11-24T02:36:00.000-08:00

CRIME PREVENTION REPORT

The purpose of this report is to suggest reasons why our area is the main target of criminals.
This area is known as a poor area, with mainly Afro-american population. Statistics say that 93.4% of all inhabitants are Afro, and the rest are Indians. Due to bleak prospects for employment, there are many people who decide to become criminals, like muggers, shoplifters or burglars. They need money for normal life: food, clothes and a place where they can live.
Most of them are from 14 to 25 years old, and from this finding we can see that they are very young people.

I suggest that you should engage organizations or clubs who would educate young delinquents un different ways, such as setting up weekend camps in the province. I think it would help a lot, and there is nothing to lose.

Meanwhile, we need to install alarm systems in shops, big houses, buildings and other important public places. We need more monitoring which is the best way to catch criminals. Also, we must cooperate with the police department and help them in their activities since we know they are not responsible for all unresolved criminal cases.

The crime is on the increase, and we must think about our future and the future of those young people. I am sure that we can do it by following these recommendations.

Discursive Composition by K.Vicentijevic

2005-11-24T01:57:00.000-08:00

What can be done to save endangered animals?

Thinking about this question should make us worried. You probably ask “Why?”. That is because not many of us think of endangered animals. There certainly are few things that can be done to save those animals. For example, what can be done to save Griffon Valture?
Firstly, the hunters who are killing Griffon Valtures should be arrested because hunting them is forbidden by the law. Once been arrested, they would never do it again.
Secondly, river Tresnica, the place where Griffon Valtures live, should be unspoiled. People are dumping waste materials there, and that can only damage their place for living. If we want to live in healthy area, we must do everything that is in our power to keep the nature unspoiled.
Finally, the man who would feed Griffon Valtures should be hired. They would also check if someone left poisoned food for Griffon Valtures to eat. That person would be paid well for the job that he/she is doing, but also had to be professional. Not everybody can work that kind of job, only lovers of animals.
All in all, I believe that there are people in our country who are capable of doing this kind of job. There are groups of people who are doing what they can to protect Griffon Valtures and nature in whole, but they do not have devices or support of the Government to fight this problem. I hope that we will solve this problem soon.

Report 1 by D.Ristovski

2005-11-22T04:02:00.000-08:00

Dear Sir,
The purpose of this report is to suggest reasons why is our area is the main target for criminals.
This area is known as a poor area, with mainly Afro-american population. Statistics say that 93.4% of all inhabitants are Afro, and rest are Indians. As well as lack of perspective for employment of that, there are many people who decide to become criminals, like muggers, shoplifters, burglars, etc. They need money for normal life: food, drink and a place where can they live.
Most of them are at the age from 14 to 25, and from this information, we can see that they are very young people.
I suggest that you should engage organizations or clubs who would educate young delinquents, such as setting up weekend camps in the province. I think it would help a lot, and there is nothing to lose.
Meanwhile, we need to install alarm systems in shops, big houses, buildings and other important public places. We need more monitoring which is the best way to catch criminals. Also, we must cooperate with the police department and their activities though we know they are not responsible for all unresolved criminal cases.
The crime is on the increase , and we must think about our future and the future of those young people. I am sure that we can do it by following those recommendations.

1st T's Correction of Crime Report by S.Radovanovic

2005-11-16T04:25:00.000-08:00

Stefan, it is not clear how the police officers would deter young people at schools from mugging. The verb deter has a negative connotation - it refers to preventing or discouraging someone from doing something by making it difficult for them to do it or by threatening bad results if they do it. Try to be more specific.

To: The Crime Prevention Officer
From: Stefan Radovanovic
Date: 01.11.2005
Subject: Crime in mour town
Dear Sir,

Introduction
The reason of writing this report is to make a clear picture why there is so much crime and finding a solution to make this town crime-proof.

1 Security guards
There is a big problem with shop safety in our town. Shoplifters make out with plenty of stolen things very often and police can’t work out this problem.

Measures: I think there should be employed about 15-20 strong men who would watch over the part of the town where most of shops are situated - something like “shop security”. With this type of job we would solve another problem-unemployment.

2 Deterrent
It turned out that 90% of muggers are students from the secondary school and older. They bring fear into people and that is not good at all.

Measures: Some extra classes should be added in the schools, maybe once a week because problem starts in students. On these classes police officers could talk to students about the mugging problem. Their mission would be to deter young people of committing this kind of crime.

3 CCTV
In the last two months there was an increasing number of house burglaries. More than 15 houses were broken into during that period. People come back from work and see their homes empty.

Measures: I came up with a solution. Using Closed Circuit Television would be much easier to identify burglars. On the other hand, residents should not leave houses unlocked and should install alarms.

Conclusion
There is much crime in our town and that is a big problem. I hope this report will help you preventing it.

Final T's Correction of Report 1 by M. Markovic

2005-11-16T04:10:00.000-08:00

Crime in Our Town

Introduction
The purpose of this report is to talk about crime in our town, some reasons for committing it and how we can make the number of crimes smaller.

Reasons for crime
In my opinion, most people who break laws are under the influence of drugs because if they do not have money for them they mug people or even worse – burgle houses. Alcohol is also a big problem. Drunken people can be very violent and can hurt other people, too.

Recommendations
I think that you should position police officers at many locations in town so that our enivornment becomes safer for living. Maybe today not many people have enough money for video cameras, but I think that we can put cameras in bigger shops or in some places where younger people go out in the evening so that they do not use alcohol or drugs.

Conclusion
Although crime is a big problem in our town, I believe we can cope with it and make our life safer by following the recommendations in this report.

S's Correction: Report 1 by M.Markovic

2005-11-16T03:45:00.000-08:00

The purpose of this report is to talk about criminal in our town, some reasons for committing it and how we can make the number of crimes smaller. In my opinion, most people who break laws are under the influence of drugs because if they don’t have money for it they can mug or even worst – burgle into houses. Alcohol is also a big problem. Drunken people can be very violent and can hurt other people, too. I think that you should put police officers at many locations in town so that our society becomes safer to live in. Maybe today many people doesn’t have much money for video cameras, but I think that we can put cameras in bigger shops or in some places where younger people go in the evening so that they do not use alcohol or drugs. At the end, I hope you would do something that would help us to live safer.

Crime in Our Town Report by S.Radovanovic

2005-11-10T10:39:00.000-08:00

To: The Crime Prevention Officer
From: Stefan Radovanovic
Date: 01.11.2005.
Subject: Crime in our town

Dear Sir,

Introduction
The reason of writing this report is to make a clear picture why there is so much crime and finding a solution to make this town crime-proof.

1 Security guard
There is a big problem with shop safety in our town. Shoplifters make out with plenty of stolen things very often and police can’t work out this problem.

Measures: I think there should be employed about 15-20 strong men who would watch over the part of the town where most of shops are situated-something like “shop security”. With this type of job we would solve another problem-unemployment.

2 Deterrent
It turned out that 90% of muggers are students from the secondary school and older. They bring fear into people and that is not good at all.

Measures: Some extra classes should be added in the schools, maybe once a week because problem starts in students. On these classes police officers could talk to students about the mugging problem. Their mission would be to deter young people of committing this kind of crime.

3 CCTV
In the last two months there was an increasing number of house burglaries. More than 15 houses were broken into during that period. People come back from work and see their homes empty.

Measures: I came up with a solution. Using Closed Circuit Television would be much easier to identify burglars. On the other hand, residents should not leave houses unlocked and should install alarms.

Conclusion
There is much crime in our town and that is a big problem. I hope this report will help you preventing it.

1st T's Correction of Report 1 by M.Markovic

2005-10-31T05:07:00.000-08:00

Dear Sir,
The purpose of this report is to talk about criminals in our town, some reasons for doing it and how we can make the number of crimes smaller.
In my opinion, most people who are breaking law are under the influence of taking drugs because if they don’t have money for it they are mugging or even worst - burgle houses. On the other hand, alcohol is very big problem. Drunken people can be very violence and can hurt other people, too.
I think that you should put police officers on many locations in town so that our society becomes safer for leaving. Maybe today many people don’t have much money for video cameras, but i think that we can put cameras in bigger shops or in some places where younger people go in the evening so that they can’t use alcohol or drugs.
On the end, I hope you would do at least something that would minimize violence in our town.

Report by M.Markovic

2005-10-31T05:06:00.000-08:00

Dear Sir,
The purpose of this report is to talk about criminals in our town, some reasons for doing it and how we can make the number of crimes smaller.
In my opinion, most people who are breaking law are under the influence of taking drugs because if they don’t have money for it they are mugging or even worst-burgle houses. On the other hand alcohol is very big problem. Drunken people can be very violence and can hurt other people, too.
I think that you should put police officers on many locations in town so that our society becomes safer for leaving. Maybe today many people don’t have much money for video cameras, but i think that we can put cameras in bigger shops or in some places where younger people go in the evening so that they can’t use alcohol or drugs.
On the end, I hope you would do at least something that would minimize violence in our town.

1st T's Correction of A STORY by M.Savić

2005-10-19T06:27:00.000-07:00

Milos, you have to follow the instructions - your story must end with the sentence:
When John got into bed that night, he could hardly believe what had happened that day.
Please correct the highlighted text sections.

John was a thirty – old taxi driver. He was driving home his last customer for that day. Looking at his taximeter, he whispered to himself: ’After my job, I will have a nice nap’.
After some time, John stopped and his customer got out of the car. ’That will be $45,’ John told. Then, customer gave him $50 and suddenly dissapeared. John was unsuccessfully calling for him to get back and take his excange, but there was no response.
’What a brainless person,’ tought John. During his home drive he saw a lottery shop and stopped to buy a strach money card, from the forgoten ehcange money.
Minutes later, he got home. He sat at his sofa and turned on the tv. Than, he took the card and strached it. It was like a cold shower. He won $500.000. He could not belive he had such luck.
But, was it a reward for his hard work?

A STORY by M.Savić

2005-10-19T06:25:00.000-07:00

John was a thirty – old taxi driver. He was driving home his last customer for that day. Looking at his taximeter, he whispered to himself: «After my job, I will have a nice nap».
After some time, John stopped and his customer got out of the car. «That will be $45», John told. Then, customer gave him $50 and suddenly dissapeared. John was unsuccessfully calling for him to get back and take his excange, but there was no response.
«What a brainless person», tought John. During his home drive he saw a lottery shop and stopped to buy a strach money card, from the forgoten ehcange money.
Minutes later, he got home. He sat at his sofa and turned on the tv. Than, he took the card and strached it.It was like a cold shower. He won $500.000. He could not belive he had such luck.
But, was it a reward for his hard work?

Final T's Correction of Story by S.Radovanović

2005-10-19T06:06:00.000-07:00

Stranger than Fiction

That day John was working in the second shift. While he was preparing to go to work the phone rang. He picked it up and answered: ”Hello!” There was no answer. His wife asked “Who was that?” and he said that it was probably a mistake, so he went to his factory. John was working in a car factory. He had a lot of work to do because he had just signed a new deal with “Porsche” manager. While he was working the phone rang, and again there was no answer. John had more important business to do, so he didn’t pay much attention to the calls.

It was the end of his shift, so he wanted to go home. While approaching his car he realized he had forgotten his keys, so he got back to the office. He took the keys and went outside the factory. While he was walking he heard a big “boom” at the parking place. His car exploded right in front of his eyes. He was terrified. He didn’t know what to do.

After quite a long time he took a taxi and went home. John explained everything to his wife and they called the police.This will change his life for sure. When he got into bed that night, he could hardly believe what had happened that night.

S'S Correction of Story (Stefan Radovanovic)

2005-10-19T05:44:00.000-07:00

Stranger than FictionThat day John was working in the second shift. While he was preparing to go to work the phone rang. He picked it up and answered: ”Hello!” There was no answer. His wife asked “Who was that?” and he said that it was probably mistake, so he went to his factory. John was working in the car factory. He had a lot of work to do because he had just signed a new deal with “Porsche” manager. While working the phone rang and again, there was no answer. John had more important business to do, so he didn’t pay much attention to the calls.
It was the end of his shift, so he wanted to go home. While approaching to his car he realized he had forgotten his keys, so he got back to the office. He took the keys and went outside of the factory. While he was walking he heard a big “boom” at the parking place. His car exploded right in front of his eyes. He was terrified. He didn’t know what to do.
After a quite long time he took a taxi and went home. John explained everything to his wife and they called the police.This will change his life for shure. When he got into bed that night, he could hardly believe what had happened that night.

1st T's Correction of Story by P.Milicevic

2005-10-11T03:59:00.000-07:00

Pedja, this is completely different from what is required in the task. First, FCE limit is 180 words, and your composition has 617! The task should be predominantly written in narrative tenses (past simple, past perfect, past continuos). Please read the instructions in your textbook. There are also some inconsistencies - if he is the owner of the shop, why would he call a boss for the code? How could the girl inside the safe know the code?

John is a man who owns a jewelry shop in New York. He had lots of customers every day who were interested for gold, silver and many other things. One day his collogue Maria Peterson, who he has not seen before, wanted to come to pick up some documents. That day he had a customer with her daughter wanted to buy something. John wanted to show the woman some jewelry from the huge safe witch was unlocked. He took the jewels and left the safe, but he didn’t saw the little girl who went inside. When she was looking around the doors suddenly closed. John and the mother of the girl were busy with choosing rings, so they haven’t seen what happened. When the mother wanted to ask her daughter witch one does she likes, but behind her was nobody. Although she called her there was no answer. John began to search for the little girl Natalie. When he passed the safe he heard someone was shouting “help”. He knew that it came from the safe .He wanted to opened it but it was locked. “Open the safe” the mother shouted
“I cant, Its locked!”
“Use the code to open it”
“The boss has it I just have to call him.”
John phoned him but he wasn’t available
“What shall we do now?” she asked,
“Ill call the locksmith to break in”
15 minutes latter he came. When he saw the safe he said
“This is a very strong safe ,ill need 2 hours to get it opened, and the girl has only air for maybe 30 minutes”
At that time Maria Peterson came. She had seen that something isn’t all right.
“Can I have a try?” she asked,
“OK, have a try.” The locksmith answered.
She sat beside the safe and said
“Natalie, we are going to play a little game now.”
“Why?” she asked
“Trust me, just don’t panic”
“OK.”
“Now tell me left or right?”
“Left”
“Now tell me a number between 1 and 100!”
“36.”
“Again left or right?”
“Right!”
“Again one number!
“87”
“Again left or right?”
“Right!”
“Now a number!”
“17”
“OK, this is the last time, left or right”
“Right!”
“And now, tell me the last number!”
“I cant do this no more, Im to tired.
Natalie could not breath normally, the air was getting thinner and thinner.
“Natalie, just one more number, please!”
“…1”
After that in the safe was very still. She must have lost her consciousness.
Than the women started to tipe the positions and numbers on the safe.
“Left 36,right 87,right 17 right 1” she said while she was tipping. She pulled the door handle, but the safe won’t open.
She couldn’t believe it, she was shore that it would be the right combination. She started thinking, and than said
“It wasn’t right 1, It should be left 1!”
So again she started tipping, and when she tipped the last number, there was a “click” sound. When she pulled the door handle the safe had opened itself. The mother took her out of It and after one minute she had her consciousness back. The locksmith told them that if she would have stayed in there any minute longer she would be there. Everyone was busy with the child, so nobody had seen that Maria had left. A half hour later a women came in the shop and asked
“Hello, Im Maria Peterson and I came here to pick up the documents.”
John couldn’t believe what he had heard. If this is Maria, who was the woman who saved the girl. When John got into bed that night, he could hardly believe what had happened that day.

Story: John is a man who owns a jewelry shop in New York by P.Milicevic

2005-10-11T03:51:00.000-07:00

John is a man who owns a jewelry shop in New York. He had lots of customers every day who were interested for gold, silver and many other things. One day his collogue Maria Peterson, who he has not seen before, wanted to come to pick up some documents. That day he had a customer with her daughter wanted to buy something. John wanted to show the woman some jewelry from the huge safe witch was unlocked. He took the jewels and left the safe, but he didn’t saw the little girl who went inside. When she was looking around the doors suddenly closed. John and the mother of the girl were busy with choosing rings, so they haven’t seen what happened. When the mother wanted to ask her daughter witch one does she likes, but behind her was nobody. Although she called her there was no answer. John began to search for the little girl Natalie. When he passed the safe he heard someone was shouting “help”. He knew that it came from the safe .He wanted to opened it but it was locked. “Open the safe” the mother shouted
“I cant, Its locked!”
“Use the code to open it”
“The boss has it I just have to call him.”
John phoned him but he wasn’t available
“What shall we do now?” she asked,
“Ill call the locksmith to break in”
15 minutes latter he came. When he saw the safe he said
“This is a very strong safe ,ill need 2 hours to get it opened, and the girl has only air for maybe 30 minutes”
At that time Maria Peterson came. She had seen that something isn’t all right.
“Can I have a try?” she asked,
“OK, have a try.” The locksmith answered.
She sat beside the safe and said
“Natalie, we are going to play a little game now.”
“Why?” she asked
“Trust me, just don’t panic”
“OK.”
“Now tell me left or right?”
“Left”
“Now tell me a number between 1 and 100!”
“36.”
“Again left or right?”
“Right!”
“Again one number!
“87”
“Again left or right?”
“Right!”
“Now a number!”
“17”
“OK, this is the last time, left or right”
“Right!”
“And now, tell me the last number!”
“I cant do this no more, Im to tired.
Natalie could not breath normally, the air was getting thinner and thinner.
“Natalie, just one more number, please!”
“…1”
After that in the safe was very still. She must have lost her consciousness.
Than the women started to tipe the positions and numbers on the safe.
“Left 36,right 87,right 17 right 1” she said while she was tipping. She pulled the door handle, but the safe won’t open.
She couldn’t believe it, she was shore that it would be the right combination. She started thinking, and than said
“It wasn’t right 1, It should be left 1!”
So again she started tipping, and when she tipped the last number, there was a “click” sound. When she pulled the door handle the safe had opened itself. The mother took her out of It and after one minute she had her consciousness back. The locksmith told them that if she would have stayed in there any minute longer she would be there. Everyone was busy with the child, so nobody had seen that Maria had left. A half hour later a women came in the shop and asked
“Hello, Im Maria Peterson and I came here to pick up the documents.”
John couldn’t believe what he had heard. If this is Maria, who was the woman who saved the girl. When John got into bed that night, he could hardly believe what had happened that day.

1st T's Correction of Story by S.Radovanovic

2005-10-11T03:30:00.000-07:00

Stefan, you have exceeded the word limit by 100 words. Use paragraphing to organise your ideas in a better way. Your climax seems to be a little bit unusual. Was the explosive device set to go off at a certain time? Why would it be before the end of work time?

Stranger than Fiction

That day John was working in the second shift because he was too tired after yesterday’s meeting. While he was preparing to go to work the phone rang. He picked it up and answered: ”Hello!” There was no answer. His wife asked who was that and he said that it was probably mistake, so he went to his factory.
John was working in the factory, which produces cars – a new model. He had a lot of work to do because he had just signed a new deal with “Porsche” manager. He was very nervous that day like something bad was going to happen. Than the phone rang and again, there was no answer. John had more important business to do, so he didn’t pay much attention to the calls.
It was 9:45 pm and John was sitting in his office. The end of his shift was at 11 pm but he wanted to go a little bit earlier, so he went out of the factory. While he was approaching his car he realized he had forgotten his keys and a briefcase, so he got back to the office. He took the briefcase and went down to the exit. While he was closing the exit door he heard a big “boom” at the parking place. His car exploded right in front of his eyes. He was terrified. He didn’t know what to do.
After a quite long time he took a taxi and went home. John explained everything to his wife and they called the police.
This will certainly change his life. When he got into bed that night, he could hardly believe what had happened that night.

Story: Stranger than Fiction by S. Radovanovic

2005-10-11T03:27:00.000-07:00

Stranger than Fiction

That day John was working in the second shift because he was too tired after yesterday’s meeting. While he was preparing to go to work the phone rang. He picked it up and answered: ”Hello!” There was no answer. His wife asked who was that and he said that it was probably mistake, so he went to his factory.
John was working in the factory, which produces cars – a new model. He had a lot of work to do because he had just signed a new deal with “Porsche” manager. He was very nervous that day like something bad was going to happen. Than the phone rang and again, there was no answer. John had more important business to do, so he didn’t pay much attention to the calls.
It was 9:45 pm and John was sitting in his office. The end of his shift was at 11 pm but he wanted to go a little bit earlier, so he went out of the factory. While he was approaching his car he realized he had forgotten his keys and a briefcase, so he got back to the office. He took the briefcase and went down to the exit. While he was closing the exit door he heard a big “boom” at the parking place. His car exploded right in front of his eyes. He was terrified. He didn’t know what to do.
After a quite long time he took a taxi and went home. John explained everything to his wife and they called the police.
This will certainly change his life. When he got into bed that night, he could hardly believe what had happened that night.

1st T's Correction of Story by K.Vicentijevic

2005-10-11T03:06:00.000-07:00

Kaca, this is much too long for the word limit of 120-180 words.

Stranger than Fiction

John is a defense lawyer and he has his own firm. Last Thursday he experienced the strangest event in his life.
He was going to work by car and he was in a good mood. On his way to work he was thinking about a meeting with his new client Mark, a doctor who had been accused of killing a woman, and he claimed that he was innocent. Moreover, he had had an alibi when he had been inspected, so everyone had belived in his innocence. What was interesting, head of the killed woman had never been found. So, John didn’t expect anything stange to happen that day.
When John got at the firm, Mark had already arrived and he had been waiting for John for over an hour. John invited him to his office, so that they could talk in peace. After they agreed about everything that Mark should say in the court, Mark had to sign some papers so that John was sure that he would get paid. When he (Mark) opened his doctor bag, he could see the head of the woman in the bag!! John couldn’t belive what he had seen. Of course, he invited the police immediately.
Police came in five minutes and arrested Mark, who still claimed that he was innocent and that someone was doing that so that he would end up in the prison. John, as his lawyer, had to come on the preliminary hearing. He was confused, he didn’t know what to think. He was Mark’s lawyer and he didn’t have any choice- he had to represent him.
On the hearing, the judge said that no bail was available, and he determined the date of the trial.
John went home, and told his to his girlfriend what had happened to him. She was amazed. When John got into bed that night, he could hardly belive what had happened that day.

Story: Stranger Than Fiction by K.Vicentijevic

2005-10-11T03:03:00.000-07:00

John is a defense lawyer and he has his own firm. Last Thursday he experienced the strangest event in his life.
He was going to work by car and he was in a good mood. On his way to work he was thinking about a meeting with his new client Mark, a doctor who had been accused of killing a woman, and he claimed that he was innocent. Moreover, he had had an alibi when he had been inspected, so everyone had belived in his innocence. What was interesting, head of the killed woman had never been found. So, John didn’t expect anything stange to happen that day.
When John got at the firm, Mark had already arrived and he had been waiting for John for over an hour. John invited him to his office, so that they could talk in peace. After they agreed about everything that Mark should say in the court, Mark had to sign some papers so that John was sure that he would get paid. When he (Mark) opened his doctor bag, he could see the head of the woman in the bag!! John couldn’t belive what he had seen. Of course, he invited the police immediately.
Police came in five minutes and arrested Mark, who still claimed that he was innocent and that someone was doing that so that he would end up in the prison. John, as his lawyer, had to come on the preliminary hearing. He was confused, he didn’t know what to think. He was Mark’s lawyer and he didn’t have any choice- he had to represent him.
On the hearing, the judge said that no bail was available, and he determined the date of the trial.
John went home, and told his to his girlfriend what had happened to him. She was amazed. When John got into bed that night, he could hardly belive what had happened that day.

Final T's Correction of Informal Letter by K.Vicentijevic

2005-10-11T02:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Velja,

In your last letter you said that you would like me to write you about an important family celebration from my childhood. I’ve decided to tell you something about my first New Year’s Eve with my friends. It wasn’t exactly with my family, but they had a big role in what happened to me.
It was very difficult to convince my parents to let me go to the Art hall with my friends, because they were afraid that something bad could happen to me. But in the end, they couldn’t resist my friend’s parents’ presure and they let me go.
When we got to the Art hall, at about 10 p.m, there were only ten people in the room. At first we thought that more people were about to arrive. An old-style band started playing and it was really boring. As time passed, we realised that our first New Years Eve was a disaster.
After that, we decided to go outside, and to be at the City square at 12 p.m. On our way to the City square, we met my parents and we told them what had happened. At first they laughed at us and then they told me to invite my friends to my house so that we coud have fun at the end of the night.
I did what they told me, and we had a really great time. I mean, in the end it wasn’t that bad. I hope that in the future I won’t be this “lucky”.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Katarina

Final T's Correction of Story 1 by K.Mijatovic

2005-10-11T02:41:00.000-07:00

Nothing was ever the same again after that morning when the letter arrived. I remember that I woke up very early because I couldn’t sleep well, so I went to the living-room and turned the TV on. I was channel-hopping when suddenly I heard the door bell.
It was the postman. I was surprised to see him so early in the morning. He gave me a letter and told me to sign for it. When I opened it I saw a lottery ticket. I thought that the postman had made a mistake because we had not played lottery for years. Then I noticed that the ticket had seven points and on the back it was written: „You are the lucky winner, please go and collect your money.“
I gave the ticket to my parents who told me they had bought the ticket to bring me luck and to mark their 20th wedding anniversary. We were anxious about collecting the money but there were no problems. Since then we all believe in miracles because we saw they are possible.

Final T's Correction of Formal Letter 1 by K.Mijatovic

2005-10-11T02:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Mrs Malone,

I have seen your advertisement in a magazine and I wanted to ask you to give me some details. I hope that you will think that I am the right person to help you.
I wonder if you could tell me what kind of help you exactly need. I have experience in working with children because I have a younger sister and I spend a lot of time playing with her.Furthermore, I think you should tell me how old your children are so that I could cooperate better with them. I am also interested in the date of your holiday and how many hours a day I will spend with your children. I would also be grateful if you could inform me about my pay.
I think my English is pretty good because I have studied it for nine years, so there will not be any difficulties in our communication. My wish to improve speaking skills will make it even easier.
I look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,
Kristina Mijatovic

Final T's Correction of Formal Letter 1 by K.Krsmanovic

2005-10-11T02:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Malone,

I read your advertisement for work at a camp for children and I would like to apply for a job there, because I think that I can improve my English by working there.
I have studied English for 8 years in a private school and I think that I have very good knowledge of it, so I can work at your camp. Also, I have some experience in looking after children, because I have a broher and a sister who are under the age of 12 and I know what children of that age are interested in. In my free time I go swimming and I play volleyball, so I think that they will be glad to see what I can do and also learn something new.
I am very talented for art and I won some competitions. I think that I will have a very good relationship with children.
I look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,
Katarina

Final T's Correction of Informal Letter 1 by K.Krsmanovic

2005-10-11T02:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Jo,

I have received your letter and I’m really happy because I will see you in a few days...What is the weather like in your country? I guess it is very hot at this time of the year.
I’ll be in school and my parents at work, so we can’t come to the airport, but I will ask my brother to come and wait for you there. He has black, short hair and he is as tall as some basketball players.
You’ll bring some presents??? Oh, I like presents very much... For my mother you can buy a book with pictures of Australia (she likes Australia very much), for my father a disc with music or T-shirt with the name of your county. My brother likes rollerblades or equipment for baseball. And at the end, for me you can buy a toy like a kangaroo to remember you and your country, hot Australia...

See you soon,

Katarina

Final T's Correction of Formal Letter 1 by B. Nestorovic

2005-10-11T02:35:00.000-07:00

Branko, it would be a good idea to pay special attention to the use of tenses and a proper register.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am a client who was in London with your travel company. Actually, my friend and me.
We are not satisfied with the tour.

We arranged for the tickets for one of the best London shows. In your offer you said that it did not matter what it was – whether it was music, ballet, opera or anything else. We wanted to watch ballet but we could only get the tickets for cinema.

Nevertheless, we accepted going to the cinema, but we could not see anything.Our seats were too bad, uncomfortable, and in one of the corners. I do not know London as well as you, but I think that it is the worst cinema in the whole city.

As a result, I will have to ask you for a 30 % refund because you did not give me what you promised and the arrangement was too expensive. I hope we will be able to settle
out of court.

I look forward to your prompt reply.

Yours faithfully,

Branko Nestorovic

Final T's Correction of Formal Letter 1 by P.Milicevic

2005-10-11T02:32:00.000-07:00

- Peđa, it seems you did not understand that the job refers to working as a tour guide in your area.
- It would be a good idea to make your sentence structures more diverse by avoiding to start almost each of them with ’I’. You could do this by combining two simpler sentences into a more complex one, for which you can use appropriate linkers and/or participle clauses.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am interested in the summer jobs that are available in your agency. I would like to have the job, because I have the skills necessary for that kind of jobs and I am interested in meeting people from abroad.

I have worked in the tourist agency ’Balkanik’ for two years as a tourist guide and have travelled to many countries around the world: Egypt, Greece, India, Tunisia, Japan, USA, and Italy are some of them. My experience include work with all kinds of groups, both with older and younger people.
My English is excellent after learning it for ten years, and I have a Cambridge First Certificate. I also speak German and French.

I would like to travel with groups to Italy, especially Rome, because the city is full of ancient treasures that are very interesting for most of the people.

I would appreciate it very much if you considered my application.

Yours faithfully,

Predrag Milicevic

Final T's Correction of Informal Letter 1 by P.Milicevic

2005-10-11T02:31:00.001-07:00

Peđa, the rubric states that you have received a letter from your pen friend, not ’heard’ about his situation from somebody.
- Styding at colle eis started after secondary school.
- You should avoid lifting of phrases from the rubric, e.g. ’plan your time better’.
There are quite a few rubric items thay you missed to cover: asking for more information (whether ’so much to do’ refers to his work or social life , if he has problems with eating or sleeping). You also missed to suggest that he he should try to move somewhere else and try to find a holiday job. Encouraging your friend not to give up, possibly by stating benefits of getting a diploma, is a very important item, too.

Dear George,

I have read that you had some problems with this school year in college.Well, it is not so easy as the previous schools. Now you have to study more than in secondary school.The teachers are very strict, so you have to be very careful in classes.
The first thing you have to respect is the teachers. They like students who pay attention in classes, and it’s also better for you because you will understand everything in class and you won’t have to learn a lot at home. I also suggest you should talk with teachers, because they like to be consulted. If your house is full and you don’t have a place to study you can use the school library. It’s always silent and the best place to study.You also have to organise your activities more efficiently.When you come from school, you should start with learning at the moment you enter your room.You would finish earlier and you would have most of the day to rest.
So, that would be all for now and I wish you all the best for the next school year.

Yours,
Pedja

Final T's Correction of Informal Letter 1 by P.Milicevic

2005-10-11T02:31:00.000-07:00

Final T's Correction of Informal Letter 1 by D.Ristovski

2005-10-11T02:28:00.000-07:00

Danilo, you must paragraph your writing.

Dear Jo,

I’m delighted that you’re coming to visit us. It’s taken a long time since I was in your beautiful country. I can imagine how hot it is down there - perfect weather for swimming and sunbathing in the clean azure sea.

Now, I have some obligations on March 14th, but I think I will have some free time to meet you at the airport. If I don’t come, I’ll tell my friend to meet you at 16.00. He has very long, curly, black hair and he’ll be wearing a blue and white jacket.

And, in the end, something about the presents. I hope this will not be very selfish and unkind from me. You’ll surprise my parents if you give them these presents: for my mom, a T- shirt with an incription printed on it (for example it can be the name of your country or some famous actor from Australia); for my dad some music records (jazz or opera), if it’s not expensive; for my younger brother a kangaroo toy; and for me.. it’s your choice, but if you don’t have an idea - a book of Australia with pictures in colour.

Thank you for everything, and see you soon!

Yours,
Danilo

Final T's Correction of Letter of Application 1 by K.Pavlovic

2005-10-11T02:27:00.000-07:00

Kaca, try to give more arguments for your statements or illustrate them with specific examples. For example, when you say that you like st, you should state why you like it. Why would you take your tourists to Kalemegdan, Petrovaradin, etc? Also, you could have organised the main part of the letter in two paragraphs – your interests and experience in one and where you would take your tourists in another. Using more linkers is also recommendable.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am interested in the summer jobs that are available in your agency. I would like to do this because I like meeting new people. Also, I have considerable experience in that kind of work.I have worked in two tourist agencies: Touring and National in my home town as a tourist guide.Three years ago I used to live in Italy and had my own agency there. That means that I know Italian very well. I think I am very proficient at English, which I have been learning for 8 years and I have a Cambridge First Certificate. I would also like to mention that I have worked with older people in many spas in Serbia. Furthermore, I have travelled all around the world. Greece, Spain, Australia, Egypt, Germany, and USA are some of the countries I visited.
If I get this job I will take my group to see interesting historic places such as Kalemegdan fortress in Belgrade from the time of the Turkish rule, which has a breathtaking view of the Sava and Danube rivers. Petrovaradin in Novi Sad is a similar place offering exquisite fish restaurants as well. On the last day of their visit I will show them round Valjevo, and arrange for a barbecue on the river Gradac.

I hope you will consider my application and look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully,

Pavlovic Katarina

Final T's Correction of Informal Letter 1 by K.Pavlovic

2005-10-11T02:25:00.000-07:00

Final T’s Correction of Informal Letter 1 by K.Pavlovic

Kaca, here is the final correction of your work. It would be a good idea to use use some expressions of sympathy in your introduction, such as ’I felt very sorry/ sad // I was moved to tears when I read your letter. Also, avoid lifting of phrases from the rubric, e.g. ’plan your time better’. One important rubric item thay you missed to cover is encouraging your friend not to give up, possibly by stating benefits of getting a diploma.

Dear Dea,

I am not surprised because starting something new is very hard.You didn’t give me enough information about your problems, but I will try to help you.
You wrote me that there are so many things to do and I didn’t understand whether you think of your college or your personal life. You must try to organise your activities more efficiently. What do you think about making a to-do list for each day? Also, it is very important to pay attention to/in classes. It is very good because you don’t have to study too much at home and teachers like quiet students.You should discuss studying problems with your teachers.Then they will see that you are interested in classes and subjects. If you can’t study in the house I suggest you should go to the library. It is the best place for studying.You said that you don’t have money.Why don’t you find a holiday job? It’s not so hard and you’ll get enough money to spend on yourself.
Write me soon. I wish you all the best.

Yours,
Katarina

1st T's Correction of Formal Letter 1 by D. Ristovski

2005-09-27T02:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr Filth,
In your offer you told that you need some students who know English very well. I think I can improve my English in this camp.
I study English for 15 years in Lingva, private school, witch is a member of YALS. Teachers from school told me that I have exellent knowledge of English and that I can work at an American summer camp for children. I have some experience with young children under the age of 12. When I was on some Explorers expedition for children witch are students in primary schools in Valjevo. I was ellected for a guide when we where on highest point of Durmitor (2535 meters). Everyone where happy and proud of me because it was very hard to keep them.
I was in the music school for six years, so I can tell the children what is interesting for them, what kind of music is good for them. Also my basketball team was 2nd in Yugoslavia on competition in Belgrade, so I can show them some trics in this sport.
If you call me , I think you will be saticfide with me …

Your faithfully,
Danilo

1st T's Correction of Informal Letter by D.Ristovski

2005-09-27T02:34:00.000-07:00

Dear friend,

I’m surprised that you’ll come to visit us. It take a long time since I was in your beautiful country. I can imagine how hot is down there. Perfect weather for swimming and sunburning in clean asure sea.
√ Now, I have some obligations on March 14th, but I think I will have some free time to meet you at the airport. If I don’t come, than I’ll tell my friend to meet you at 16.00. He has a very long, curly, black hair.
And, in the end, something about presents. I hope this will not be very sellfish and unkind from me. You’ll surprised my parents if you give these presents: for my mom, some T- shirt with a tittle printed on it (for example it can be name of your contry or some famous actor from Australia); for my dad some music records (jazz or opera), if it’s not expensive; for my younger brother some kangaroo toy; and for me ... it’s your choice, but if you don’t have an idea - a book of Australia with pictures in colour. √ Thank you for everything, and see you soon!

Yours
Danilo

1st T's Correction of Formal Letter 1 by K.Pavlovic

2005-09-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr or Mrs,

I am interested in the summer jobs that are available in your agency. I would like to do this because I like that job. Also I have knowledge in that kind of work. I have worked in two tourist agencies:Touring and National as a tourist guide.Three years ago I have had my own agency in Italy. I used to live there.That means that I know italian very well. And my english is very good. I have been learning english for 8 years and I have First Certificate. I didn’t mention that I have worked with older people in many spas in Serbia.I traveled all around world. I visited Greece, Spain, Australia,Egypt, Germany, USA and many others. If I get this job I will take my group to see interesting historic places.For example: Kalemegdan in Belgrade, Petrovaradin in Novi Sad, Kadinjaca....And last day of visitng I will show them Valjevo.
I would be very aprishiated if I get the job

Your faigtfully,
Pavlovic Katarina

1st T's Correction of Informal Letter by K.Pavlovic

2005-09-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Dea,

I am not surprised becouse starting something new is very hard.You didn’t give me enough informations about your problems, but I will try to help you.
You wrote me that there is so much things to do and I didn’t understand do you think on your college or your personal life? You must plan your time better.What do you think about making to-do list for each day? Also it is very important to pay attention on classes. It is very good becouse you don’t have to study to much at home and teachers like quite children.You should ask your teacher about problems with studing.Then they will see that you are interested in classes and subjects. If you can’t study in house I suggest you to go to the library. It is the best place for studing.You said that you don’t have money.Why don’t you find holiday job? It’s not so hard and you’ll get enough money.
I wish you all the best and write me soon

Your Katarina

1st T's Correction of Formal Letter 1 by P.Milicevic

2005-09-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

Dear tourist agency,
I am interester in the summer jobs that are avaiable in your agency. I would like to have the job, becouse I have the knoweledge in that kind of jobs. I have worked in the tourist agency ,,Balkanik,, for two years. I worked also as a tourist guide. I have traveled in many countryes around the world: in Egypt, Greece, India, Tunesia, Japan, USA, Italy and many other countryes. I have worked with all kind of groups, with older people and younger poeple.
My english is very good. I have learned english ten years, and I have a Cambridge certificat. I also speak german and french.
I would like to travel with groups in Italy, in Rome, becouse the city is full of ancyent treasures that are very interesting for the people.
That would be all from me, and I would be very aprishiated if i get the job.
Yours faightfully,
Predrag Milicevic

1st T's Correction of Informal Letter 1 by P.Milicevic

2005-09-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

Dear pen friend,
I have heard that you had some problems with this school year in college.Well, it is not so easy as the previous schools. Now you have to study more than in the primary school.The teachers are very strict, so you have to be very carefull on classes.
The first thing you have to respect the teachers. Teachers like children who pays attention on classes, and its also better for you becouse you understand everything in class and you dont have to learn at home. I also suggest you to talk with teachers, becouse they like to be asked. If your house is full and you dont have a place to study you can use the school library. Its always silent and the best place to study.You also have to plan your time better.When you come from school, you should start with learning at the moment you enter your room.You would be ready earlyer and you would have the whole day to rest.
So that would be all for now and I wish you all the best for the next school year.
Yours friend,
Pedja

formal letter1 by K.Pavlovic

2005-09-17T04:56:00.001-07:00

Dear Mr or Mrs,

I am interested in the summer jobs that are available in your agency.I would like to do this becouse I like that job.Also I have knowledge in that kind of work.I have worked in two tourist agencies:Touring and National as a tourist guide.Three years ago I have had my own agency in Italy.I used to live there.That means that I know italian very well.And my english is very good.I have been learning english for 8 years and I have First Certificate.I didn’t mention that I have worked with older people in many spas in Serbia.I traveled all around world.I visited Greece,Spain,Australia,Egypt,Germany,USA and many others.If I get this job I will take my group to see interesting historic places.For example:Kalemegdan in Belgrade,Petrovaradin in Novi Sad,Kadinjaca....And last day of visitng I will show them Valjevo.
I would be very aprishiated if I get the job

Your faigtfully,
Pavlovic Katarina

Story 1 by K. Mijatovic

2005-09-17T04:56:00.000-07:00

Nothing was ever the same again after that morning when the letter arrived. One morning I woke up very early because I couldn’t sleep well, so I went in the living-room and turned the TV on. Suddenly, I heard the door bell. It was a postman. I was surprised to see him so early in the morning. He gave me a letter and told me to sign up. When I opened it I saw a lottery ticket. I tought that the postman made a mistake because we didn’t play lottery for years. Than I noticed that the ticket had seven points and on the back it was written: „You are the lucky winner, please go and collect your money.“I gave the ticket to my parents and there was no problem with collecting money. Since then we all beleive in miracles because they are possible.

Formal letter 1 by K.Krsmanovic

2005-09-17T04:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Malone,

You offered me to work at an camp for children and I accept,because I think that I can improve my English by working there.
I study English for 8 years in private school and I think that i have very good knowledge of English,so I can work at an American summer camp for children.Also I have some experience with children,because I have broher and sister who are under the age of 12 nad I know what are children of that age interested in.In my free time I go swimming and I play volleyball,so I think that thay’ll be glad to see what can I do and also learn something new.
I am very talented for art and I won some competisions.I think that I will have very good relationship with children.
I’m expecting your call soon.

Your faithfully,
Katarina

informal letter1 by K.Pavlovic

2005-09-17T04:53:00.002-07:00

Dear Dea,

I am not surprised becouse starting something new is very hard.You didn’t give me enough informations about your problems but I will try to help you.
You wrote me that there is so much things to do and I didn’t understand do you think on your college or your personal life?You must plan your time better.What do you think about making to-do list for each day?Also it is very important to pay attention on classes.It is very good becouse you don’t have to study to much at home and teachers like quite children.You should ask your teacher about problems with studing.Then they will see that you are interested in classes and subjects.If you can’t study in house I suggest you to go to the library.It is the best place for studing.You said that you don’t have money.Why don’t you find holiday job?It’s not so hard and you’ll get enough money.
I wish you all the best and write me soon

Your Katarina

Formal letter 1 by K. Mijatovic

2005-09-17T04:53:00.001-07:00

Dear Mrs Malone,

I have seen your advertisement in a magazine and I wanted to ask you to give me some details. I hope that you will think that I am the right person to help you.
You said that you need help with your two children. I wonder if you could tell me what kind of help do you exactly need. I have experience in working with children because I have a younger sister and I spend a lot of time playing with her. However, I think you should tell me how old are your children so that I could know how to cooperate better with them. I am also interested in date of your holiday and how many hours a day will I spend with your children.
I think my English is pretty good because I have stydied it for nine years, so there won’t be any difficulties in our communication. I would also like to practice my speaking.
I forgot to ask you how much will you pay me?

Your faithfully,
Kristina Mijatovic

Informal letter 1by K.Krsmanovic

2005-09-17T04:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Jo,

I have received your letter and I’m really happy because I will see you in few days...What is the weather like in your country?
I’ll be in school and my parents at work,so we can’t come at the airport,but I will ask my brother to come and wait you there.He has black,short hair and he is tall like some basketball players.
You’ll bring some presents???Oh,I like presents very much...For my mother you can buy some book with pictures of Australia(she likes Australia very much),for my father some disck with music or T-shirt with name of your county.My brother likes rollers or equipement for baseball.And at the end for me you can buy some toy like kangaroo to have memorie on you and your country,hot Australia...

See you soon,

Katarina

Informall leter 1 by B.Nestorovic

2005-09-16T07:08:00.001-07:00

Dear unknown friends from Canada,
You are visiting my city for few days and I am glad because of that.
I am the same age as you and my job is to organize evening activities for you.
If you are people who likes music I am suggesting one of the best music compatition in my country.it is on Sunday.It Is starting at 9 o’clock and the end is early in the morning.There, you can see the best Serbian’s rock groups.The drink is free.I know that you aprisiate that.I will be there so we could go together.I know that you don’t know the language so it would be useful for you.
Another suggestin:we can organze tickets for galery.it is also on Sunday evening.you can see there the traditional serbians clothes.The old clothes.
There will be the Prime Minister so you must be very silent.
If I could choose I will chose the first option.But you are choosing and I know that you will choose best thing.
Your unknown friend,
Branko

Formal letter 1 by B.Nestorovic

2005-09-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Ms or Mrs,

I am the man who was in London with your travel company.Me and my friend,actually.
We are not satisfied with the travel.
We have arranged tickets for one of the top Lindon shows.In your offer you said that it is no mether what is it-it is a music, ballet, opera or something like that.We would like to watch ballet but we couldnt because we had only the tickets for cinema.
All right.We have gone to the cinema but we couldnt see anything.Our seats were so bed,uncomfortable,in one of the corners so...
I dont know London as wel as you but i think that is the worst cinema in whole city.
I would like to propose a deal, of course, if you dont mind.I am asking you for my money back.I want 30 per-cent because you didn’t give me what you promes.it was too expencive.
I am apologise for the conflict and i hope that we could make an agreement without court.
Good bye and have a nice day.
Yours faigthtfully,Branko Nestorovic

Formal letter 1 by D. Ristovski

2005-09-16T07:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr Filth,

In your offer you told that you need some students who know English very well. I think I can improve my English in this camp.
I study English for 15 years in Lingva, private school, witch is a member of YALS. Teachers from school told me that I have exellent knowledge of English and that I can work at an American summer camp for children. I have some experience with young children under the age of 12. When I was on some Explorers expedition for children witch are students in primary schools in Valjevo. I was ellected for a guide when we where on highest point of Durmitor (2535 meters). Everyone where happy and proud of me because it was very hard to keep them.
I was in the music school for six years, so I can tell the children what is interesting for them, what kind of music is good for them. Also my basketball team was 2nd in Yugoslavia on competition in Belgrade, so I can show them some trics in this sport.
If you call me , I think you will be saticfide with me…

Your faithfully
Danilo

Informal letter 1 by D. Ristovski

2005-09-16T06:54:00.000-07:00

Dear friend,

I’m surprised that you’ll come to visit us. It take a long time since I was in your beautiful country. I can imagine how hot is down there. Perfect weather for swimming and sunburning in clean asure sea.
Now, I have some obligations on March 14th, but I think I will have some free time to meet you at the airport. If I don’t come, than I’ll tell my friend to meet you at 16.00. He has a very long, curly, black hair.
And, in the end, something about presents. I hope this will not be very sellfish and unkind from me. You’ll surprised my parents if you give these presents: for my mom, some T- shirt with a tittle printed on it (for example it can be name of your contry or some famous actor from Australia); for my dad some music records (jazz or opera), if it’s not expensive; for my younger brother some kangaroo toy; and for me.. it’s your choice, but if you don’t have an idea- a book of Australia with pictures in colour. Thank you for everything, and see you soon!

Yours
Danilo

Informal letter 1by J.Bozovic

2005-09-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

Noting was ever the same again after that morning when the letter arrived.One nice morning I was woken up by a door bell,when I open it I sow a post man,he was holding a letter,I took it out of the his hands and went inside of the house.I sett on the couch and open it,it was a letter.I started to read it,it was from my old school friend telling me that he was in trouble.He had neden money to pay out his debth.He was not telling me how he managed to spend that kind of money,o I almost forgot to tell you he was asking me for about 500000.00 american dollars.When I went to meet him he was all brused up,when he tried to sey something to me a car drove by and some one started shooting,he was hit and I was to.After that an ambulance came and took us to a hospital, he died on operating table,I survived.And like I said noting was ever the same again after that.

Formal letter 1 by J.Bozovic

2005-09-16T06:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Mrs Malone,

I have read your advertisement in a local news paper.I was quite suprised when I sow your advertisement,becouse that is a great oppertunuty for me to move my education to another level.I have been studying English for eleven years and that is why I would like to get this job so I can try my speaking skills abroad.I also have a younger brother,whit who I like to play a lot,so it wouldn’t be a problem spending time whit your children,and I would like to know how old are they.You mencioned in your advertisement somethig about helping you whit your children,can you tell me something more about that.I would like to ask you some questions regarding this job.How meny hours a day or a week will I spend whit your children,and how much will I be payed?I almost forgot to ask you the date of your holiday.I thak you in advance.

Yours faightflly,

Jovan Bozovic

Infomal letter 1 by K.Vicentijevic

2005-09-16T06:43:00.000-07:00

Test in writting, paper 2
Katarina Vicentijevic

Dear Velja,

In your last letter you said that you woluld like me to write you about an important family celebration from my childhood. I’ve decided to write you about my first New Years Eve with my friends. It wasn’t excatly with my family, but they had a big role in what happened to me.
It was veru difficult to convinse my parents to let me go to Art hall with my friends, because they were afraid that something bad could happen to me. But in the end, they couldn’t resist my friend’s parents presure and they let me go.
When we got to the Art hall, at about 10 p.m, there was ten people in the room. At first we taught that more people is about to arrive. The “Demode” band started playind and it was really boring. As time passed, we realised that our first New Years Eve is a desaster.
After that, we decided to go outside, and to be at the City square at 12 p.m. On our way to the City square, we met my parents and we told them what had happened. At first they laughed at us and then they told me to invite my friends to my house so that we coud have fun at the end of the evening.
I did what they told me to, and we had a really great time. I mean, in the end it wasn’t that bad. I hope that in the future I won’t be this “lucky”.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Katarina

Formal letter1 by P.Milicevic

2005-09-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

Dear tourist agency,
I am interester in the summer jobs that are avaiable in your agency.I would like to have the job,becouse I have the knoweledge in that kind of jobs.I have worked in the tourist agency ,,Balkanik,, for two years.I worked also as a tourist guide.I have traveled in many countryes around the world:in Egypt,Greece,India,Tunesia,Japan,USA,Italy and many other countryes.I have worked with all kind of groups,with older people and younger poeple.
My english is very good.I have learned english ten years,and I have a Cambridge certificat.I also speak german and french.
I would like to travel with groups in Italy,in Rome,becouse the city is full of ancyent treasures that are very interesting for the people.
That would be all from me,and I would be very aprishiated if i get the job.
Yours faightfully,
Predrag Milicevic