John Lennon once again

I know that for you the events of 35 years ago are distant history. But for me this is one of the earliest really traumatic memories, something that had a great impact on me, then (and now) an avid Beatles fan. Here are a few words from John and Yoko about love. They'd been through a lot, but they worked hard on their relationship, which was at its best when John was shot.

And here is Imagine performed on rue Richard Lenoir, ten meters from the Bataclan, the day after the terrorist attacks in Paris.

Thanksgiving

Today I went to a meeting with a very wise man, Professor Wiktor Osiatyński. He is a renowned lawyer, sociologist, activist and human rights expert. The event was quite long (three hours!) but it was so engaging and inspiring that I didn't even notice how the time had passed. One of the things Professor Osiatyński said was how wonderful Thanksgiving is as a holiday, and that we should practice being grateful for things in our lives as it may help us live better and more fulfilling lives.

He actually said that one of the assignments that he often asks his students to write is "Write five sentences about what you are grateful about in your private life, five sentences about your life in your community, five more about being grateful for things in our society, etc.". He says that they find it most difficult to write about their local communities, which is quite revealing about our way of life.

Next, everybody in the audience was invited to close their eyes and think of five things they have been grateful for within the last week. It was quite an interesting experience: even though these are quite disturbing times, and there are so many things that annoy or upset me in our public life, I had no problems finding those five things which make me feel good about my life and the world in general.

So go ahead, join the experiment: close your eyes and give yourself a minute to think of those five things that have made you feel grateful and for which you can thank whoever you believe should be thanked for your good fortune. I hope you haven't had any problem making the list. Isn't that a great feeling?

Same questions, again and again. How many times, indeed?

The world is broken

A fun way to practice listening

If you feel you need some practice in listening for detail (and spelling!), here is a suggestion worth considering:

Click on the image above, and you will be taken to a website which lets you play a gap-filling game with song lyrics at four different levels (from beginner to expert), while listening to one of your favourite hits. There are dozens of songs to choose from, in different languages. I would rather you practiced your English there, of course, but you can try other options as well.

Be warned: This may prove quite addictive! ;)

Invitation

Please feel invited to take part in a meeting organized by a group of IFRom staff members and to read aloud fragments of texts which you find particularly relevant to the current refugee crisis in Europe. Or you can just come to listen and be there.  
For more information please go to the event page on FB.

Here we go again!

Hello!

We are back in business, and it's time to start writing on our blogs. I hope that you are all ready for the two semesters of hard work and fun, in good proportion. Try to keep up with your blogging, so that you would not have to write too much at a time, because it becomes more and more difficult to return if you are far behind. Here is my advice: Decide which day in a week, and what time, will be the best for your blog work and try to stick to it. Sometimes it is difficult to decide: NOW is the time. If you make that choice for the whole semester, it will be much easier to write regularly and avoid a backlog of work.

If you have problems finding topics for your writing, think of some recent events in the week or during your day. Sometimes small things may lead you to very interesting ideas and reflections. Try to look out for things to write about: when somebody says something that moves you or upsets you, try to make a mental note like "this is a good issue to write about on the blog ". After you have written your post, please read it carefully before publishing it. This way you will eliminate a lot of errors and will make your writing easier to read. If you realize that you've made a mistake after publishing your post, you can always come back to the editor and make the necessary changes.

Make sure you read what other students write and leave your comments to show that you have been there. Do not limit yourselves to reading your closest friends' blogs. You may find new soulmates through reading blogs written by students you hardly know! Believe me, you will be surprised how little you know about one another.

So, I hope you will enjoy our little project and use this opportunity to improve your English in a creative and engaging way. 

Have fun blogging! :)