Monday, March 23, 2020

Emilka' self-assignment

In the time from February 2 through March 23 there were no lessons, initially because of Emilka's sickness, then because of my one-month stay in Seattle. During my absence Emilka was supposed to continue working on improving her English skills and report the results here. She sent me via WhatsApp a picture of her choice for which she provided a description:


In the picture, I see a beautiful family. The man is probably a father. He has dark short hair. He is wearing a white t-shirt, white trousers, and white shoes with red ornaments. He keep two puppies, and he kisses a stomach his wife.
The woman is probably a Mam (*). She has long brown hair, dark eyes, and a beautiful smile. She is pregnant. The woman is wearing a white knitted dress. She keeps a small child on her left arm and ultrasound pictures in the right hand.
The child has big dark eyes and fair hair. Probably there is a girl. She has a small ponytail. There is so cute.
This family is very happy because the parents are love and there have a beautiful daughter. 

(*) Mom, Mum, Mam: Different words?

Friday, January 31, 2020

Assignment #2.15

  1. Throughout your school education, in history classes, you must have learned about different periods of mankind's past such as Greek and Roman civilizations, middle ages, Renaissance, Enlightment, modern history, XX century and the like. Write which of them interests you most and, on the other hand, which one do you find boring. Justify your choices by giving several reasons for each of them.
  2. We will resume our reading on the painting The Arnolfini Marriage.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Assignment #2.14

  1. My intention for the last assignment was that you would describe in full detail the Christmas Eve supper customs that we were talking about during our lesson preceding the last one: sharing wafers, reading from the Bible, saying prayers and more. My directions in this respect were rather vague and you misunderstood them. Accordingly, you wrote about other customs only. So now, in the description as part of this assignment, cover the customs we discussed then. Before doing this read the assignment #2.13 again, so you could refresh your memory about the assumptions you should make while working on your composition.
  2. If time allows, we will resume our reading on the painting The Arnolfini Marriage.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Assignment #2.13

  1. Describe to a hypothetical friend living in UK the customs observed in your family during the Christmas Eve. Assume that your friend is an atheist, but is very interested in religious aspects of such customs. In your description you won't be able to rely on the kind of understanding we take for granted in Poland. You should therefore pay attention to details in a manner you did during our last lesson, when you were reporting on how you spent the Christmas Eve supper at aunt Teresa. Try to tell even more than what you did then, for example about carols and Santa Claus.
  2. When I was at Julia's in Liverpool for Christmas, I visited an old cemetery nearby. Below is a photo of a gravestone with an interesting inscription. Translate it into Polish.


Thursday, December 19, 2019

Assignment #2.12

  1. Our next lesson will be on Monday, January 6, 2020.
  2. A Christmas time is not only a time to enjoy good food and Santa Claus presents, but also a good opportunity to reflect on more important and serious things. It is also a good time for sweet recollections from the previous occasions like this. For you, Szymon, your dad and your grandfather it will be yet another Christmas without your mum, which is very sad. Surely, you will be thinking about her more than usual these days. If there would be a miracle and she would show up at the Christmas Eve supper and stay with you for just few hours, what would you be asking her? Write down as many questions as you wish. You will have plenty of time before the next lesson, so don't postpone working on this assignment to the last minute. It would require serious thinking.
  3. If time allows, we will continue reading about the painting The Arnolfini Marriage.

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Assignment #2.11


  1. Re-write the 10 questions from the last lesson with the corrections we have discussed. Now, play the role of the interviewed ballet dancer and answer each question.
  2. We will continue reading about the painting The Arnolfini Marriage.

Friday, December 6, 2019

Assignment #2.10


  1. Imagine, you are a newspaper reporter who is interviewing a Polish ballet dancer who at the age of 20, after early successes in her native country, was invited by the famous Metropolitan Opera in New York City to dance there as a guest artist for one season. She was performing there so well, that shortly before her scheduled return to Poland, the Met signed a 5-year contract with her. At the time of the interview she is at the midpoint of the contract. Prepare 10 questions you will be asking the now world-famous dancer. Just questions, no answers. Make sure to use various tenses and voices in these questions. Also, try to apply as rich a vocabulary as you can.
  2. We will continue reading about the painting The Arnolfini Marriage.