The Speedo 31/10/06 - 6/11/06

Dear Students,

Thank you to all you lovely students who read our newsletter (published every week and at reception on Tuesdays) and who completed our wordsearch to win chocolate bars... look out for more competitions coming up... this time the prizes will be 20 gr each!! ;)

IT'S CLUB TIME!!

The first club of this month is my 'Comedy Club' which will be next Monday at 7.30pm in Room 8 - I've got some very funny British comedies to show you (League of Gentleman, Little Britain) and you may even be lucky enough to hear me tell a few jokes! If anyone else has any good jokes, bring them along and tell them (IN ENGLISH THOUGH!!)

Word of the Week - 'MOLE'

A mole is a small animal that makes tunnels under the ground and eats worms. He can be a problem in your garden because he makes 'molehills' which do not look nice on a piece of grass.

But 'mole' has several more meanings - It is a little brown thing on somebody's face. The model Cindy Crawford has a mole! In the old days it was considered a sign of beauty!

Finally, a mole is a spy who works for the people he is spying on. In the second world war, the Germans had 'moles' in Britain who sent information back to Germany to tell them what the British were planning to do... and vice versa!

IDIOM OF THE WEEK # 5556756535

'To make a mountain out of a molehill'

A mountain is very big and a molehill is very small (because it is made by a mole which is small). So the idiom, 'make a mountain out of a molehill' means to make a problem seem bigger than it really is.

Lynsey: Dean! I've broken my fingernail! My life is over!!!

Dean: It's not so bad Lynsey - don't make a mountain out of a molehill!

A LOOK AT CHUCK

The pictures of Chuck just keep getting better and better - don't you agree guys. Today we have a very smart Chuck at the World Black Belt Karate awards... gorgeous. It's no suprise that Chuck can have any man or woman in the world that he wants!

FACT OF THE WEEK

"Once a cobra snake bit Chuck Norris' leg. After five days of terrible pain, the cobra died."

The Speedo 23/10/06 - 30/10/06

NOVEMBER CLUBS ARE COMING

Hello again everybody...

So, this October we've had pub club, rock club, film club and Lee's New York Lecture. We're planning more activities for November (Pub Club again, comedy club etc), but as always, we'd like to hear your ideas and suggestions. In December we are planning a 'ski club' so we will organise a weekend to go skiing (maybe to Czarna Gora - or let us know if there's anywhere else you like!) Keep looking for posters and checking the Blog!



Phrases and Sayings #2399985 - 'to be pigeon-holed'

As you may know, a pigeon is a bird which we can use for racing or for carrying messages and letters to people (in the old days!*) There are not that many pigeons in Wroclaw but if you go to London or Venice there are millions! Some people call pigeons 'rats with wings' because they can carry illnesses to animals and people, like rats.

Anyway, when we keep pigeons we put them in a building with a wall that has lots of holes in it - 'pigeon holes' - Each bird has its own hole and the owner puts it back in this hole after a race or the bird flies back to it naturally.

In English, we use the term pigeon holed to mean that we put a person, or think of a person as being in one category or group (one 'pigeon hole') This is not always a good thing. Perhaps at work you are good with computers, good with people and good at making tea and coffee. If your boss 'pigeon holes' you as the man/woman who makes good coffee then you will probably have to do this all the time and you won't get chance to do the other things... if we get 'pigeon holed' it is often very difficult to change people's ideas about us.

ALSO - In an office, a 'pigeon hole' is a place to put letters, with each hole having a different name on it for each person who works in the office

(* also see Jim Jarmusch film: Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai - good film!)


A LOOK AT CHUCK



Following last week's 'word of the week' (Leather), The Speedo brings to you a fantastic picture of chuck norris in a leather 'bodywarmer' (like a jacket but with no arm parts) and one leather glove. I expect to see this fashion spreading amongst Callan students and teachers over the next few weeks!


"Despite popular beliefs, America is not a democracy, it is a Chucktatorship."



Idiom of the Week # 346671

"DON'T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY HATCH!"

This is a very popular little idiom that means we should not make plans for the future when we cannot be sure or certain that some things will happen.

The meaning of the verb 'hatch' is when an egg breaks and a bird or reptile comes out.

So if we have three eggs (see picture) we should not expect three chickens - one might be dead!

Dean: "I've bought train tickets to go skiing in the mountains at the weekend!"

Lynsey: "But Dean! It might not snow! Don't count your chickens before they hatch!"

CELEBRITY / TEACHER LOOK-ALIKE

THE FIRST CELEBRITY LOOK-ALIKE THIS YEAR - DO ANY OF YOUR TEACHER's LOOK LIKE 'FIGHT CLUB' AND 'AMERICAN HISTORY X' STAR, EDWARD NORTON? IF THE ANSWER IS YES THEN SAY TO THE TEACHER YOU THINK IT IS, IN THE NEXT LESSON "YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB!"

THE SPEEDO 16/10/06 - 23/10/06

Hello Students and welcome back to your weekly Speedo blog. Thank you for all you party people who came to Pub Club! There are a few pictures underneath of smiling teachers and students together. The next big event is Lee's Lecture on Friday 20/10/06 at 7:30pm "New York, New York!" - see you there!


PUB CLUB PICTURES

There will be a few Pub Club pictures here when we get a digital photo card thing from Terri or Lynsey - WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

THEY'RE HERE! See happy pub club punters (punters = people - english slang) below!!


NEXT PUB CLUB
NEXT MONTH
BE THERE
OR BE SQUARE!



Word of the Week

The word of the week, this week, is 'LEATHER'.

Leather is the skin of an animal, normally the skin of a cow, which people mak into jackets, wallets (to hold your money) and trousers. If you go to Rock Club with Gary you will see him in leather trousers - NICE!

In British English slang we can 'get leathered' which means to get very very drunk.




(These men are 'leathered')








Idiom #230079 - "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth"

As horses become older there teeth get worse and so you can check how old the horse is by looking in its mouth. But if someone gives you a "gift" (something for free because they like you/it is your birthday etc) it is impolite and rude to look at it and see how good it is! You should say thank you and be happy that they are kind to you... so "don't look a gift horse in the mouth"

A LOOK AT CHUCK

So Chuck is back - be afraid, be very afraid. If anyone has any other Chuck Norris facts that I don't talk about in the blog, please tell me in class or post them on this site. I am determined to continue the tradition of worshipping the god that is Chuck Norris but your ideas would be very valuable!!!

(RIGHT: CHUCK HOLDING TWO BIG GUNS - NORMALLY IT'S ONLY ONE BIG GUN FOR CHUCK!)

"In an average living room there are 1,242 objects Chuck Norris could use to kill you, including the room itself."

INTERESTING ENGLISH INFORMATION

In the old days (until the 16th Century) Plurals in English were nearly always made by adding 'en' to the end of a word. The plural of 'book' was 'booken' and the plural of door was 'dooren' etc. In the 16th and 17th century this slowly changed and we started using 's' instead - as it was often easier to pronounce. Only a few words remained unchanged - the most obvious are 'children', 'women' and 'men' - this was because they sounded nicer and eaier to pronounce. The only other word I can think of is 'brethren' which means 'brothers'. It is still used today for a religious church/group in the UK - the Plymouth Brethren who still (sometimes) wear funny hats (or head scarves) like the lady in the picture below.

WORD(S) OF THE WEEK - LAP and PILLOW

The word 'lap' has quite a few meanings but today we will look at it's meaning as a noun.

The lap is the part of the legs between the knees and the body. We use it in the words 'laptop' (or notebook) and 'lapdance' (a special dance by ladies for men in certain adult clubs) but more generally, we can have a seat on someone's lap.

A 'pillow' is a nice, soft object which we lie our head on when we go to sleep. I like to have 2 or 3 pillows in my bed :)

In the picture above we can see a special, Japanese designed 'lap-pillow' a nice, soft pair of artificial lady's legs, designed to sleep on, for old Japanese men who, perhaps, don't have a real lap to sleep on! Looks comfortable!!

I have got a CAT

OK - I have now got a cat so I don't need one :) His name is Rooney and he is very full of fun and life. There is a picture of him (right) with Lee (His new uncle!)

Speedo 10/10/06 - 17/10/06

Teacher Profiles

So - you guys want more information about teachers right? and PICTURES... I think you probably want pictures of Terri (Boys) and Lee (Girls) the most - do you agree?

OK - so here's the first picture of new and old teachers getting to know each other. I will post a profile of one of our new teachers later in the week (There is a quick one of Terri on last week's newsletter - at reception!)

LEE's LECTURE - I LOVE NEW YORK - Friday 20/10/06 - 19:30

If you want to find out more about Lee (which I'm sure you do!) then come to his lecture at the time above - he'll give you all the information you could ever want about 'the big apple', life in New York and (probably) himself too. Look out for the posters in school!!

CLUBS,CLUBS,CLUBS!!!

FILM CLUB - Wednesday 11/10/06 - 19:30

Join Dean to watch the English classic Pride and Prejudice (starring the beautiful, gorgeous, Kiera Knightley - Mmmmmm) We'll watch the film and see if we can answer Mr Callan's question "Is Pride a good or a bad thing?" (I think, looking at Ms Knightley - IT'S ALL GOOD!)

PUB CLUB - Friday 13/10/06 - 9.30pm - Zielony Kogut

The FIRST Pub Club of the Year is brought to you by Darren and Terri and will be at Zielony Kogut on Friday 13th (Unlucky for some!) This is a great chance to practice your English outside the classroom and get to know the teacher's a little better (You probably all know Darren quite well but he always has something interesting to say!)

ROCK CLUB - Wednesday 18/10/06 - 7.00pm - KLUB WZ

GARY is our ROCK teacher this year and so his first club of the year will be ROCK CLUB!! (Raaawwwwwkkk!!)

The band playing is CLOSTERKELLER with DESDEMONA AND JESUD RODRIGUEZ

The Rock Club will be at KLUB WZ so meet outside there at 7.00pm. Tickets are 25-30zl but this band are guaranteed to ROCK your socks off (Gary told me!) and WEAR BLACK!!

NOTE: Gary has promised to wear LEATHER trousers!! It's worth going to see this alone!!

A look at Chuck!

So the Chuck Norris fact of the week returns with a lovely picture of Chuck as 'the Texas Ranger'

"Chuck Norris sleeps with a night light. Not because Chuck Norris is afraid of the dark, but because the dark is afraid of Chuck Norris"

CLUBS COMING SOON

CALLAN CLUBS WILL BE ON THEIR WAY SOON! (STARTING IN OCTOBER) - WE ARE PLANNING FILM CLUBS, PUB CLUBS (AS USUAL!), ROCK CLUB AND IN THE WINTER, SKI CLUB... SO KEEP WATCHING THE SPEEDO BLOGSPOT AND LOOK OUT FOR NOTICES IN THE SCHOOL!

IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER IDEAS IF THINGS YOU'D LIKE TO DO - LET US KNOW!

WE WANT LOTS OF STUDENTS AT ALL THE CLUBS - ITS GREAT PRACTICE FOR YOUR ENGLISH AND WE'LL HAVE A FUN TIME TOO!!! SEE YOU THERE

WORD OF THE WEEK

BULB

So, a 'bulb' is another one of those English words with 2 meanings - a light-bulb or a bulb for your garden. I like this word because it sounds quite funny when you say it - just try "Bullllllbbbb" Nice? Say it again!

In cartoons people often have a lightbulb above their head when they think of a good idea.

In America they also use the slang word 'dim bulb' to mean someone who is a little bit stupid... 'Dim' is a similar word to 'dull' and means not very bright. "That guy's a bit of a dim bulb!"

I like the word bulb and I hope you do too :)

I want a CAT!

I am looking for a new CAT... Really I want a kitten (a baby cat) so if anyone has any kittens, or knows anyone who has any kittens, who are looking for a good home please let me know :)

A LOOK AT CHUCK

As you may know, your new editor (Dean) is quite a big fan of Chuck Norris jokes. I know Chuck has been big in Poland (and the rest of the world) for quite a long time but he continues to be popular with young and old people, men, women, children and animals. We will be bringing you a different Chuck joke/fact every week but please post any of your own Chuck facts here to make us laugh too. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

(PICTURE: Chuck delivers a roundhouse kick to Ronaldhino)

STOP THE PRESS!!!!!!!!

SPECIAL VERBS BECOME CALLAN READING!!!

So, this year Special Verbs (In book 4) have become 'reading only' sections for Callan! For any of you who have already done Special Verbs, I'm sure you will be happy to have left them behind! For anyone in earlier books, say a big thank you to the Callan Gods that you will never have to answer the "third of the three ways in which the special verbs differ from the other verbs..." kind of questions! BUT SERIOUSLY - the special verbs are quite useful and you can read about them on pages 586 - 589, 617 - 620 and 642 - 645... Terri is our Expert on special verbs so you can ask any questions here OR speak to TERRI!!!

HOMER SIMPSON SAYS: "Special Verbs...

Phrases, Sayings and Idioms Number 2348

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS

This is a nice, positive little saying for the new term. 'Onwards and upwards' means to continue with something and get better at it... That's what you'll be doing this year! So next time you see an old Englishman walking up a difficult mountain or hill shout "Onwards and Upwards Grandad!"

(He might hit you with his walking-stick though!)

SPEEDO'S NEW EDITOR

NEW EDITOR ARRIVES AT SPEEDO

So guys, Dean is your new editor this year for the Speedo Blog and Newsletter. I hope you will find it interesting and funny. We'll have jokes, words and competitions and tell you when all the clubs and lectures are going to be happening. If you have anything you want us to put in or any questions (about teachers, words, grammar... ANYTHING) then please post on here or let us know!

SPEEDO...