Fancy a little chat in English?

[Jools]

Hey girls!
I'm so anxious about my exams at the end of August/early in September . I'll have to do a 4-hour Sprachklausur which consists of translating a german text into english and writing an essay. I like the fact, that I don't really have to learn for it but I'm soo afraid that I don't know the words for the translation not to mention the essay (I hate essay-writing ).

[Sowka]

Heya

today, by mere accident , I've found something that I would like to share with you: Engrish

Some of these are very funny. For instance the pub called "Liver side" I mean, too much beer goes: Down by the Liverside (Well, the joke's not mine, it's under the link)..

Enjoy
Sowka

[hellogoodbye]

Sowka, wow, sounds really cool . I almost dies laughing - think there exist some really awesome photos, I once found a few in an English newspaper and really laughed myself to tears .

Well, and Jools, I really root for you, hope you do well !

[Jools]

Sowka, that's a great link, thanks!

Thank you, hellogoodbye . I'm pretty excited cause I just found out that we'll be allowed to use a monolingual dictionary in the test . That really makes me feel a lot better

[lavee73]

jools, i just wanted to ask if you are allowed a monolingual dictionary. i studied english translation at the university in vienna and we were always allowed to use one in the exams (which sometimes did not help at all, though...)

[Jools]

Well I remembered from my Zwischenprüfung that we were'nt allowed to use a dictionary. So it didn't cross my mind that we may use one in the test for the Staatsexamen .

[Tiggerchen]

what's the topic?
I'm with you!

[Tiggerchen]

Ahhh, dictionaries!

I'm sure we were allowed to use dicitionaries at school exams.

I have to excuse my English. It's long time ago when I wrote in English.

I shouldn't read what I've written .

[Frl.Sucre]

Hey ladies!

How are you doing these hot days?

[Jools]

Thankfully it's not too hot here today. I'm more annoyed by these thunderstorms everyday

[Bilby]

Hi girls,

today it is not so hot as it was yesterday. We also had a couple of thunderstorms during the night. But hey, enjoy, these are probably the last hot days of this year's summer!

Jools, how are you doing with the preparations for your exams? We'll be with you on the big day

[Jools]

Thanks Bilby . The exam will be on September 15th and I can really need all of your english-vibrations

[Frl.Sucre]

I will send good English vibrations to you, don't worry!

[Jools]

Hey girls!
I really miss English right now , since I finished the english part of my exam last week () all I have to deal with at the moment is german. I really have to keep me from reading the new Cecilia Ahern novel. Gosh, life is so boring without english . Maybe I can talk my boyfriend into some english communication. Since he will spend 6months in Maryland next year he could need a little routine. Unfortunately I don't have a clue about the terminology of physics .

[Lamb]

Hey Jools!

Oh dear, physics. That was not one of my favourites, either

How about your exams? Did everything work out well for you?
Would you like to tell us a little bit about the topics you dealt with?

[Bilby]

Mr Bilby is a physicist –*but I'm a loser in that subject

Jools, how did your exam go?

[Lizzy the Loony]

yuk, physics... i can't seem to get to grips with it, though, apparently, i am supposed to teach it... ah well, hi everyone, i'll join you for a while...

[Splendora]

Oh! Great! An English chat. May I join you? I love reading English books and travelling in English speaking countries. My understanding of English is quite ok but I always feel very unsure when I have to write English. This is a good chance to overcome it. Are there native speakers in this thread?

[Lizzy the Loony]

not quite native, but i do teach in england, so my understanding and ability to speak and write this language should be rather acceptable so, where have you been so far? i'm sooo interested in seeing scotland one day. the highlands, wandering in the mountains, visiting nessie... i've always been drawn to the UK, and now i live here... gosh, time does fly...

[Splendora]

You live there!? Lucky you! I've been to the US, New Zealand and in the UK only to London so far. But next year I'll hopefully go to Leeds and see some friends.
Are you permanently living in the UK now? What are you teaching?

[Lizzy the Loony]

some call it lucky, others crazy...
is new zealand really as romantic as it is said to be? have you been following the trails of the lord ot the ring?
leeds... never been there, though i love yorkshire. birmingham is dirty and too industry-led for me, but i should be out of here soon. i've got a nursery place for my daughter in derby for next year.
yes, i do live here permanently, currently studying for my BEd in Science (main biology, though i am trained in physics and chemistry as well) in KS2/3 (which would be 8-14-year-olds). hence, i could teach both in primary and secondary schools after i've finished, but after my block periods in both school types, i have to say i prefer secondary. simply because i can't teach maths and don't see a way round it in primary. plus, i find secondary kids easier to handle. so i'll be teaching 11-16 again this year, and then start on my Newly Qualified Techer year in 2009...

[Bilby]

Wow, Lizzy, you are still very young –*and already teaching rebellious teenagers How comes you're a teacher in the UK, not in Germany?

[Jools]

Oh dear, physics. That was not one of my favourites, either

Mr Bilby is a physicist –*but I'm a loser in that subject

Same here! I would've never imagined that I'd end up whith a physicist. It's always funny when people ask me what my boyfriend studies so I learned some catch phrases by heart (like laser cooled atoms) but I don't have the slightest idea what it means. Going out to dinner with his colleages is the worst thing! They are all very nice but when they start talking about physics I feel like a complete idiot .

How about your exams? Did everything work out well for you?
Would you like to tell us a little bit about the topics you dealt with?

Well, oit was okay. It was a 1hour oral examination. The literature part was really good. My topics were Oscar Wilde, Childrens literature and Elizabethan era. But Linguistics isn't my favourite so that part wasn't soo good but still okay

[Lizzy the Loony]

it's far easier to reach out to teenagers when you're young, to be honest... you're a lot more on their level, you still kind of know what they're talking about when they mention certain TV characters and the latest musicians, you have grown up in a system similar to their own... you just know them a lot better than if a generation or two lies between you.
and i teach in england, just because i married two ideas. one was, to become a teacher of science, the other to live in england. since i'm one of those all-or-nothing people, i simply decided to do both... and more or less blindly tapped a place on the map to see where i would go

[Splendora]

I don't know if New Zealand is romantic but there is lots of impressive and diverse nature. On the northern island there is a lot of volcanic activity (sulfur stench included --> Mordor). Every hostel has its own hot tub. In the south I sometimes forgot I was so far away but there is lots of impressive nature as well. I also liked the NZ accent.
I'm not a big lord of the rings fan so I didn't do a lotr-trail. I saw a leaflet about Hobbiton. This is just a little green hill, a sheep-run actually. You can only see this hill an some holes in it where they had the round doors before. That's all and the entrance fee was really expensive. So I think I didn't miss much.
So you really prefer to teach 11 - 16 year old pupils? When I was in school these were the most difficult classes (puberty). Wow!
What is "BEd " by the way?

[Splendora]

Going out to dinner with his colleages is the worst thing! They are all very nice but when they start talking about phisics I feel like a complete idiot .

I know how you feel
My boyfriend is a computer scientist and we meet his colleagues it is nearly the same.

[Lizzy the Loony]

sounds definitely worth a visit. as far as i know, tolkien actually based the story around his own home - birmingham, but the scenery in NZ must have shown the true spirit a lot more.

BEd means bachelor of education. it's the lowest degree with which you can start to teach over here.
...i once got my especially difficult year-8s to literally BEG me to teach them. that was our first ever lesson together, and i knew they were a difficult class to manage, so what i did was, that i let them chat away, and all i did was stand there, arms crossed, focussing on the chatters. most of the class were soon silent, then all of those were telling the others off for talking and began asking me whether i was going to do anything with them for that lesson. i just kept reminding them that i wanted everyone to be silent. it took a whole 20mins, during which i got many pupils telling me they wanted to LEARN something and not just sit there. it was great fun and the main class teacher was ever so impressed, because he never got them so quiet in his lessons

[Splendora]

Cool! You seem to be a natural :)

Yes, NZ is really nice and good thing is: it's not too big so you can see a lot of the country and don't have to drive so long.

[Lizzy the Loony]

...if you have a licence... how's public transport over there?

[Splendora]

Hi Lizzy,
I didn't have a car either. Public transport is quite ok there. There are also several bus systems. You can book a route and stay some days at places you like and then get the next bus again.

[Basia]

Is anybody out there?

[Gloriaviktoria]

Lost in space

[Nanni82]

*weg*

[Laverne-a-vù]

Hello there..
How is everybody?

[Gloriaviktoria]

I am fine Well, I can't get rid of my cold, but I don't feel really ill, it is more like - am I getting ill or not, something in between and therefore a little bit of a nuisance.

[Laverne-a-vù]

I know what you mean, it's the same with me. I hope you will get better soon.

[Lizzy the Loony]

baby is still asleep so i have time to drop in and say hi!

[Laverne-a-vù]

Hi Lizzy

[Lizzy the Loony]

right... you're laughing.... should i get worried?

so how come you're sitting at your computer reading bj-posts this early in the morning?

[Laverne-a-vù]

I don't have a day off. I'm at work.. And you?