28.12.21 ДОРОГА К СЧАСТЬЮ

 28.12.21 А МЫ ЕЩЁ ЖИВЫ

А мы ещё живы! Ведь мы ещё живы – Те люди, что дружат не ради наживы. Прошедшие …воду и медные трубы, В любви к оливье и селёдке под шубой. На стол в Новый Год бутерброды со шпротом И рядом на стенке семейные фото, Где праздник волшебный с улыбкой из детства. Из детства, которым так просто согреться... И в валенках хочется выбежать снова. За час снеговик самый лучший готовый. С морковкой, надкусанной, нос получился… А снег всё летел, он порхал, и искрился. И мама отправит во двор, да с коврищем, Нас с папой. Мы веником чистим и чистим... И запах потом от ковра чисто снежный. Нас мама похвалит с отцом неизбежно! И варежки сушатся на батарее, А мама мне воду для чая согреет. И сливочным маслом печенье намажет. Есть что-то вкуснее, хоть кто-то мне скажет? И вновь Новый Год, и советское детство, Как будто со мною сидит по соседству, "Мимозой", с улыбкой, меня угощает, А первый канал "С лёгким паром!" вещает... С икоркой лежат бутерброды недолго. И где-то сигналит престижная Волга... И пахнет от мамочки "Красной Москвою". Счастливое детство! Я знаю такое. И я тридцать первого вновь возвращаюсь Туда, где, не зная смартфона, общаюсь. Где гуглю у бабушки блюда секреты, А дедушка с неба 6 лет шлёт приветы... Из этого детства с душой вырастали, С характером сильным, как будто из стали. Глаза заблестели, но мы ещё живы! Те люди, что дружат не ради наживы... Ирина Самарина-Лабиринт, 2021

 26.12.21

 6.12.21 Dialogues from B1 Lesson 11 and others...

Sam

Hi there, how's it going? Let me know if you need help with anything.

Ken

Hey, actually I'm looking to get a new mobile phone contract.

Sam

Right, let me show you some of our plans. Actually, we're doing this great offer at the moment. For $85 per month you get this brand new smartphone with 50GB of data, unlimited calls and texts, plus 1,000 international minutes.

Ken

Hmm... Is that a one-year contract?

Sam

It's a two-year contract, but...

Ken

Okay... Well, I have my own phone which is still pretty good. To be honest, I'm looking to get a SIM-only deal. Do you do contracts with just a SIM card?

Sam

Sure, we have a range of different SIM-only contracts. I'll just get the info. Bear with me a sec... Okay, so this plan is quite popular. It costs $10 a month and for that you get 1GB of data plus 600 minutes of calls and 1,000 texts. But as you can see, we have different plans to suit different needs. What do you mainly use your phone for? Calls, texts, data?

Ken

I don't make calls so much. I just send texts, and I use a lot of data. I stream lots of videos, music...that kind of thing.

Sam

Right, so how does this plan sound to you? You get 25GB of data and unlimited texts and minutes, all for only $40 a month.

Ken

25 gig? That might not be enough data for me...

Sam

No worries. How about this plan? It comes with 50GB of data, unlimited texts and calls, plus 1,200 international minutes - and that costs just $50 a month.

Ken

How long is the contract?

Sam

It's a monthly contract, and you can cancel any time.

Ken

Yeah, that sounds good. I'll go for that one.

Sam

Great! Now if you come with me to the counter, I just need to take down your details.

DIALOGUE 2

Sam

This will only take a couple of minutes. I just need to check, did you want to keep your existing phone number or would you like a new one?

Ken

I need a new one, please.

Sam

Sure, no worries. Please enter your name, email address and home address here for me.

Ken

Thanks... Here you go. By the way, do you do a student discount?

Sam

Yes, we do. Did you have any student ID? You can get $5 off your bill for the first six months.

Ken

Yeah, I've got it somewhere. Here it is.

Sam

Thanks. Right, that's all the information I needed. Your account is all set up. I'll just install your new SIM card for you now - bear with me a sec. Right, you're good to go.

Ken

Thanks!

Sam

You're welcome! Was there anything else you needed help with today?

Ken

Erm... Oh yeah. There was one other thing actually. Do you do repairs? I've got my girlfriend's phone here. She dropped it the other day and the screen broke.

Sam

Let me see... Yeah, this is fairly common, unfortunately. We can fix it. Did she have a care plan with us?

Ken

Yes, I printed a copy. Here you go.

Sam

Thanks. Yep, this plan covers accidental damage. Great - so that'll be $45 and it'll be ready for pickup in a week. Did you want to pay now or next week?

Ken

Next week if that's ok.

Sam

Yeah, that's absolutely fine. Did you have any other questions?

Ken

No, that's everything thanks.

Sam

Good stuff. Thank you for coming in today. Have a great day!

Ken

Thanks, you too.

LESSON 13

MONOLOGUE 1

I would say at work I definitely speak more English with native English speakers because most of the team members in my team they are British…, um…, but overall, living here in the UK I definitely feel I speak English more with non-native English speakers because it’s a diverse city, with people from all over the world.

Chenxi

Well, I never feel completely comfortable speaking English at work because, if I had a choice, I would rather speak in Chinese.

Chenxi

I feel I have an American accent because that’s most movies I watched, um.. are American movies. But living here in the UK for a while I definitely feel that I’m picking up the UK accent, a little bit.

Chenxi

The most valuable advice I could gave… I could give… is that, um… to love the language you are learning, no matter it’s English or another language. You need to discover first why you love this language and why you wanna learn it. If you are just learning it for no reason or if you are just learning it for a test it might be difficult for you to... you know... keep motivated.

Chenxi

I don’t think anyone owns the English language, because unlike other languages which are, um… only spoken in a very small portion of the, the world, English is spoken widely around the world so it’s really hard to define who are the owners of English um… yeah, 

Most people I talk to at work are actually not British but English is our common language to communicate, and… yeah, they are from Spain, or Brazil… A bit of everywhere in the world, but not many of them are British or American or even Canadian.

MONOLOGUE 2 Lesson 13 - B1

Sophie

Most people I talk to at work are actually not British but English is our common language to communicate, and… yeah, they are from Spain, or Brazil… A bit of everywhere in the world, but not many of them are British or American or even Canadian.

Sophie

So, I can’t remember exactly when I felt fully confident speaking English at work, but I do remember at first being very scared during interviews. Basically I was scared people wouldn’t understand me, but very quickly I realised that people understood me perfectly and that my accent wasn’t a problem at all.

Sophie

I think that, um… I can say that I’m proud of my English. I’m quite proud that, um… I know quite a few colloquialisms and, um… that I can use them, er… when they should be used, and it makes me feel part of, er… yeah, part of Britishness actually.

Sophie

So, for a very long time I was quite annoyed, er…, at my accent because I was really, really working hard on it to… to try to have a perfect, er… British accent. And… but then I will go into shops and very, very quickly people would be “oh wow you are French” and I was so annoyed and so upset. But then I… I realised what really mattered was to be understood and… I am being more than understood actually. I communicate well and… no one is actually asking me to repeat twice because they can’t understand me, and everybody says that French accent is charming. I am not sure about that, but, er… I’ll take it and I guess that I just, now, I embrace it because it’s just part of, er… who I am and there’s clearly not much I can do about it and… that’s ok.

Sophie

Anyone and everyone owns English these days because… as soon as there is a new concept, or there is a new word someone invents, no matter where the person is from, so… English is owned by anyone speaking English, basically, for me.no one owns English, really.

Lesson 17

Sonia

Did you know Nina sent an application to the UN? Apparently she wants to work there as an interpreter.

Alexander

Yes, she told me! I really think they will offer her the job, she has a great resume!

Sonia

Yeah, I hope so, that would be amazing!

Alexander

And she told me you are looking for a job in Sweden. Do you want to move there?

Sonia

Yeah, I want to move in May. Actually, I was looking online yesterday and I found a really interesting advert!

Alexander

Cool! Have you applied yet?

Sonia

No, I need to update my CV first, and I have to apply before midnight tonight, otherwise it's too late.

Alexander

Well, good luck with your job hunting, I hope you get the job!

Sonia

Thank you!

LESSON 18   THE INTERVIEW

Interviewer

What would you say are your strengths, and what are your weaknesses?

Eric

I am very organised and driven. Sometimes I can get a little impatient, but I am working on that.

Interviewer

Ok, thank you. We read on your CV that you worked for the company Lea Mobile. Can you provide any references?

Eric

Yes, of course. I will send you the details of my manager, Tom.

Interviewer

That would be great, thank you. So, Eric, why do you think you are the right candidate for this role?

Eric

I think I'm a good fit for the company, as I have worked in similar environments before, and I have a strong passion and drive for what I do.

Interviewer

Thank you, Eric. We believe you are a good candidate and your skills and experience are relevant to the role. We will let you know by the end of the week.

Eric

Ok, thank you very much. I look forward to hearing from you.

REVIEW  after Lesson 18

Ana

Hey Felipe, how's it going?

Felipe

Oh hey Ana! I'm great thanks!

Ana

You've got a nice tan there, did you just go on vacation?

Felipe

Yes, my partner and I went on a romantic getaway to Hawaii for a week. We got back yesterday.

Ana

Oh wow! I'm going to go to Hawaii for a friend's wedding in a few weeks. Where did you go, and what did you do there?

Felipe

We found a budget flight to Honolulu on Oahu, but we wanted to get away from the crowded beaches near there, so we went up to the North Shore and stayed in this small beach town.

Ana

That sounds lovely! Did you enjoy your hotel?

Felipe

Yeah, we booked a vacation rental property there - the house we rented was nice. Nothing too fancy, but comfortable and near the beach.

Ana

Did you do any surfing? I think I am going to try that when I go.

Felipe

Yeah, that was the highlight of the trip - we both took surfing lessons on our first day and rented surfboards for the week. It was really fun.

Ana

Was it hard to rent the boards?

Felipe

No, they asked for us to leave behind some identification, but it didn't require a contract or anything. I'll give you the information for the company if you want. They have offices in lots of cities.

Ana

Wow, that sounds much easier than I expected. That would be great, thanks!

 21.12.21BUSUU. READING.  LESSON 18

Good to go: restitution of art

A new era for Western museums may be at hand. This week a French report went further than any before it in advocating that African treasures in museums should be returned to their countries of origin. The paper, by a French art historian and a Senegalese economist and writer, urges museums to return all objects that arrived from French colonies between the late 1800s and 1960 because they would have been removed without consent if the country asks for them. France has 90,000 African objects, including 70,000 in the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris. The advice will cause ripples beyond France. More demands are expected, especially of 

the British Museum, 

the Victoria & Albert Museum and 

the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. 

The latter is due to reopen on December 9th after a five-year restructuring of the collection amassed during King Leopold II’s private rule over Congo between 1865 and 1908.

DIALOGUE Lesson 22

Ken

Hey Natalia, you're looking great! Have you been working out?

Natalia

Oh, hi Ken! Thank you! Yes, I joined a gym a few months ago and have been getting back in shape. I signed up to run a race with my colleagues, and we're all training together.

Ken

That's great, which gym are you going to?

Natalia

I got a membership to the new gym near my office, it's really nice. I have a meeting with a personal trainer every two weeks to look at my workout plan and set goals.

Ken

Wow, that's great. Are you mostly doing cardio to prepare for the race?

Natalia

Yes, mostly it's a lot of running, but I'm also lifting weights once a week to develop my back muscles.

Ken

Good for you! Aren't you sore from this much training?

Natalia

No, it was a challenge when I started, but now it's much easier. I'm really enjoying this new routine.

DIALOGUE Lesson 25

Sean

Hey Alice! How's it going?

Alice

Oh hi Sean, I'm ok. I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment - I have a lot on at university.

Sean

Oh dear, I know how you feel. Remember, you do need to make time for yourself. Are you still taking yoga classes?

Alice

No, I'm not. I want to join a book club though.

Sean

Reading is a great way to unwind! Would you like to take part in any volunteer projects? At the moment I am helping at the local hospital once a week after lectures. I know it's not exactly alone time but it's good to do something different.

Alice

That sounds good actually! I'd like to find out more.

LESSON 28