Péntek van, ráadásul egy újabb jubileum - ez már a negyvenedik edzésprogram! Még leírni is sok, hát még megírni. :) A mai szövegek is érdekesek lesznek, megígérem! Két vicces sztori után intermediate szinten most valami más vár - egy kis betekintés a "culture shock", a nemzetek közötti kultúrális különbségek világába.

Jó sokkot! ;)

Zsófi

 

 

LONDON STÚDIÓ NYELVISKOLA

NAPI NYELVI EDZÉSPROGRAM

Angol nyelv - # 40

 

Elementary

My Grandma is a Bank Robber!

Kitty Currie is everyone's favourite grandma. She is sixty-eight years old, has snow-white hair and always wears a pink cardigan and carries a big handbag. She likes knitting and looking after her five lovely grandsons. But she's not looking after them at the moment. Kitty Currie has gone to prison! Two months ago, Kitty, who lives int he village of Bovdon in Devon, robbed a bank! She took her grandson's toy gun, put a stocking over her face, and walked into Barclays Bank. She pointed the gun at the cashier and asked for some money. The cashier gave her 20 pounds. Kitty smiled and said "Thank you very much", and left. The cashier called the police, and they caught Kitty int he next street. The money, the gun and the stocking were all in her bag.

Kitty says, 'I got married when I was sixteen. All my life I've looked after my home and my children. I've got  a lovely husband and I've had a happy life but I've never done anything really exciting. I've never been abroad. I've never even had a job. Now I'm famous. I've been on TV and in the newspapers! But I'm not going to rob another bank!'

T/F?

1. Kitty Currie is in prison for bank robbery.
2. She has no family.
3. She robbed a lot of money.
4. The police could not catch her.
5. She is planning to rob another bank.

 

 

Pre-intermediate

Tom was only seven years old, so when he went off to camp with a lot of other small boys one summer, his mother thought that he might be unhappy, and arranged for all his aunts and his grandmother and all his other relatives to write to him, so that he would get  aletter every day while he was away from home.

            Well, of course he did not write to anybody while he was at the camp. A few days after he came back home, his mother saw him looking at some papers and asked him what they were.

            'Oh,' he said, 'they are the letters I got while I was at the camp. I did not have time to look at them while I was there.'

T/F?

1. Tom was a very lonely child.
2. His mother was worried about him when he went away to the camp.
3. All the relatives wrote letters to the boy in the camp.
4. The boy read all the letters and answered them.
5. The mother was happy that she had solved the problem so cleverly.

 

 

Intermediate

Communication is not just about language, grammar, vocabulary and how to make sentences. Your body can talk too, but it may not speak the same language - different cultures use different body talk.

            In some societies, such as the USA, you look people in the eye when you're speaking. If you don't, they may think you're not interested in them. But in many Asian societies, it is rude to look someone in the eye, especially a superior. A junior person must always look down when speaking to older people or superiors.

            In Islamic cultures and in Asia, people eat with their right hand, and use the left one for bathroom functions only. It is very rude to give someone an object with your left hand. In Asia people use both hands to give something to or receive something from another person.

            Latin Americans usually stand closer together than North Americans. North Americans only stand close when they want to say something rather intimate or secret. So, for some, people who stand too close seem too friendly. For others, people who stand too far away seem unfriendly.

            In many societies, the correct response to certain questions or requests is to say nothing. In Britain saying nothing often means maybe. A Japanese person often stays silent in order to find out more about the person who is talking. Most Westerners think this means that the Japanese person doesn't understand, so they usually repeat what they have said.

True or false? (T/F)

1.      Your body language depends on your school.

2.      In the USA it is not polite to look people in the eye when you are speaking.

3.      In some Asian countries, you mustn't look people in the eye if you are a superior.

4.      In Islamic countries, you mustn't give people things with your right hand.

5.      Asian people use both hands when they exchange things.

6.      Latin Americans think you are unfriendly if you stand too close.

7.      In North America you must never stand close to people.

8.      In Britain, silence is agreeing.

9.      When a Japanese person says nothing, you should repeat what you have said.

10. Staying silent means different things in different countries.