Getting started

Welcome everyone to our blog project. First I would like to explain to you why we are doing this: I want to show you how to work with your future students through blogs, and there is no better way than to get you to run one yourself. You will be able to see how much practice in English you can get by writing your blog and reading others. I hope this won't be just another duty - try to see it as an opportunity to express yourselves in English in a less formal way, by addressing real people whom you know very well and who may be really interested in what you have to say. Try to use this project, too, as a way of learning about other people, about yourselves, about English... The outcome of all this depends largely on you: if you want it to work, it will. :)
I have given you some time to get started, to present yourselves to the others in the most natural way. If you're having problems finding things to say, I would like you to write the following:
Tell us what brought you to our college and how you found out about it. Try to recall your state of mind at the time - what expectations you had and how you felt. OK?
Don't delay any more - do it now! :)

New blogs coming soon!

To anyone who depends on this blog in terms of links to others:
This year's IT course has come to the point at which the blog project is starting. I have decided to run it on this site again instead of building a new one (I guess I need a sense of continuity here), so I will have to remove last year's links. I want to keep those which are still fully alive, though, plus a few which were the most interesting to look at. Sorry if I'm subjective here, but there's no other way. BTW: If there's anyone who would rather not have their link here, just let me know.
Please copy URLs of any 2006 blogs you would like to return to in the future, then. And take a look at the new blogs that are going to appear here soon.

IN (THE) FUTURE

I have always thought that articles are not a problem for native speakers of English. It seems I was wrong. Click on the title to read what doubts an American linguist could have in these matters. Quite consoling for EFL learners (and teachers ;) .

Language Log: Error message iced on cake

Click on the title to get the full story :D

At Last the 1948 Show - Let's Speak English

Definitely not KJO graduates ;)

e-mail addresses, please!!!

Welcome back after the holidays.

I hope everyone has had a great time and has taken a good rest after the difficult time you had in June. Now most of you are entering a new phase in your lives and may not be interested in what is going on at the TTC, but still, for the few who are, I have an important message:

During the holidays my computer, or actually its hard disc, suffered a critical failure and all the system data are gone, including my e-mail address book. If there is anyone willing to keep in touch with me, please send a message, because I have no other way to contact you. Also, please pass on this request to other students you keep in touch with.

Good luck in the re-sits to those who need to take them, and all the best to everyone, whatever you are up to :)

The End

Here we are, at the end of the course and of your studies in KJO. As the last VOLUNTARY assignment please write your reflections on the years spent in college. Say what you learned, what you will remember, and also what you think you are going to do in your life. I would like to know what becomes of you. :)
This blog will be here for some time - as long as there are people who want to continue writing. You may use it to keep in touch.
Thank you, class 2006, for the whole year of weekly IT classes, where we all discovered new things. I hope that you will use them in your future careers, no matter what they are.

GOOD LUCK!

FILMS

Following suggestions from some of the bloggers (thanks!), I would like to introduce another task:

The best film ever! Or top 10, as Karmen has done. Just think about all the many films you have seen and make a selection. Try to justify at least one of the choices, so that we know what is important for you in a movie. What makes it unique, worth coming back to, meaningful? You can place links to sites about those films, to make things easier for those who are not familiar with them. Perhaps you will make people so interested that they would like to see some of them?

I myself am not able to make any sort of ranking list. But after some thinking I can share a few titles with you. I do realize, though, that they are far away from your choices:

• Kieslowski's Red, Blue and The Double Life of Veronique - in this sequence
  There is something in these films that I cannot resist - I guess it is what we call the metaphysical. I like coming back to them. White does not work like this for me.
• Wajda's Korczak - Janusz Korczak is my guru
• Woody Allen's Zelig - playing with the very idea of moviemaking
• S. Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut - a bit weird, but irresistible - cast!
• R. Polanski's Rosemary's Baby - I have seen it once, will never see it again, but will never forget it, too. Filmed at Dakota Apartments in NY. A doomed place.
• N. Jewison's Fiddler on the Roof - every scene is a jewel
• M. Scorsese's The Age of Innocence - purely beautiful though very sad
• J. Campion's The Portrait of a Lady - I loved the book and the film did not disappoint me, which is rare (music by W. Kilar)
• R. Attenborough's Shadowlands - about C.S. Lewis
  J. Ivory's Howards End (both starring Anthony Hopkins, the acting genious)
  No, I haven't seen The Silence of the Lambs, and never will. I'm scared when I know it's on television, even if my TV set is off ;)

I don't include romantic comedies because they come and go, seldom making any stronger impression (though films like Notting Hill or Four Weddings and a Funeral are perhaps worth mentioning). A separate category for me is Jane Austen adaptations, which I can watch without end, the new Pride and Prejudice being at the top of the list ;)

Values

I don't believe in preaching - telling people what is right and what is wrong. It seldom works. You should teach values by living them. But sometimes things need to be made explicit.

So here you go - this is the way I try to live, although at times I fail:

For me the most important principle in life is: love your fellows -
I mean the sort of love which is included in the Christian tradition. And love does not always mean being nice. Often it requires being harsh and critical - ask your parents :) If you love someone, you want them to be good. What is more, it is easy to love those who love you, but to love those who hurt you or do not share your beliefs and ideals is a real challenge. I try to follow another Christian principle here: "hate the sin but love the sinner." From this core idea all others derive: tolerance - but not for those who do harm to others, respect for the individual (big or small), and, yes, forgiveness. I cannot live in conflict. Conflict kills me. It takes away all my power, all my ideas and motivation. So I do my best to forgive. But to forgive is not to forget. Not so easy.

Would you like to say in your blogs what you believe in?