The Speedo 31/1/07 - 6/2/07

Finally it has started snowing! Everyone has been patiently waiting for it to begin snowing so we can have fun doing more winter sports! Downhill skiing, snowboarding, cross-country-skiing, sledding, snowball fighting - this is a great time of year for outdoor fun. Make sure to bundle up (bundle up means wear warm clothes - a hat, a scarf, gloves, a heavy coat) when you go outside - it may drop below freezing (below 0 degrees Celcius). Stay warm!!!!

Upcoming Clubs and Lectures:

Remember that SPEED Callan hosts many activities for you to practice using your English. If you want to stay inside during the cold winter months, take advantage of our fun clubs and lectures. REMEMBER - IF YOU WANT TO ATTEND A CLUB, YOU MUST SIGN UP WITH THE SECRETARIES FIRST!!!!!

Here is what's happening this week:

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31ST- TERRI'S LECTURE: FAVORITE MUSIC

Terri will be bringing a variety of music from her vast (meaning large) collection of music. She will play many songs and introduce vocabulary used in the music world. Terri has FANTASTIC taste in music - that means she knows very good bands and songs. MAKE SURE TO SIGN UP IF YOU WANT TO COME!!!! It begins at 7:30pm at SPEED Callan.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND - GARY'S FAMOUS ROCK CLUB

Gary will meet students at SPEED Callan at 7:30pm. He will host a conversation on rock music, including Guns N Roses, Whitesnake, Iron Maiden, Pantera, Closterkeller, Brathanik, and many more. There will be a Rock Quiz, with PRIZES for the WINNERS! Make sure to sign up if you want to come!!!!

IDIOMS OF THE WEEK: phrases regarding the WEATHER

Weather means the state of the atmosphere - the wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pressure, etc. In English, we often use weather words to discuss how we feel.

IDIOM #1: UNDER THE WEATHER - if a person is under the weather, it means that they feel ill. Maybe they have a cold, maybe they have a hangover. Either way, they need to drink some water, have soup, and get some sleep, then they will feel better.

Eric: You don't look so good, what is wrong?

Dean: I am feeling under the weather today.

Eric: You should get some sleep.

IDIOM #2: ON CLOUD NINE: if a person is on Cloud 9, they are EXTREMELY happy about something that happened.

John: You look like you are on Cloud 9 - what happeneded?

Greg: You are right! I found 100 zloty in my pocket!!!!

IDIOM #3: SEVEN SHEETS TO THE WIND: if a person is 7 sheets to the wind, they are very DRUNK!

Gary: I have been drinking all night at Rock Club and I am 7 sheets to the wind!

Jamie: Sounds like a fun night!!!!

IDIOM #4: TO WEATHER A STORM: If you weather a storm, you get through a crisis or hard times.

Lynsey: I had a horrible day yesterday, I lost my phone and keys and couldn't get into my flat.

Terri: Well, you made it through the day, you really weathered the storm.

VOCABULARY OF THE WEEK: Weather words

VERBS:

- To DRIZZLE - a very light rain, not hard

- To POUR - a very hard rain

- To FREEZE - below 0 degrees Celcius or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit

- To HAIL - when the rain is freezing, below 0 degrees

TEMPERATURE WORDS:

- SCORCHING - a really hot day

- MILD - fair weather, usually in Spring or Autumn.

- CHILLY - late Autumn weather - you would need a jacket

- FREEZING - below 0 degrees

- WINDY- the wind is blowing hard

- BREEZY - the wind is blowing, but very lightly

- FOGGY - the clouds are low to the ground, it is hard to see very far

The Speedo 23/1/01 - 30/1/01

THE SPEEDO FUN NEWSLETTER RETURNS!




Hello Students!

My name is Dean and today I will write the blog! Jamie and I are now 'taking it in turns' to write the blog (that means that one week I do it then the next week Jamie does it) It was good stuff last week!



FILM CLUB - TUES 30th JAN - 7.30 - ROOM 8



WHY - IT's GREASE LIGHTNING!!




Join me to watch one of the GREATEST film musicals of all time - 'Grease' - John Travolta, Olivia Newton John will wow you with their dancing, singing and fun! Rocking and rolling on a tuesday night at Callan School!

FUN PENGUIN LINK OF THE WEEK!

The teachers at Callan School spend many hours a week preparing for your lessons but when we do have a few seconds to spare, we like to hit penguins! Our most successful penguin-hitter is Lee who managed to hit a penguin 321.1m. This is a penguin-hitting record at Callan School.

If you also like to hit penguins, visit the link below... tell us if you can hit a penguin further than Lee! (This gives me an idea for a new Callan question... "What's the furthest you've ever hit a penguin?" - coming to a classroom near you SOON!)

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mkos/pinguin.swf




Idiom(s) of the Week - (THEY ALL MEAN 'CRAZY')



To be 'short of' something means to not have enough of something, or to be less than something.

1) He's tuppence short of a shilling
2) He's a few sandwiches short of a picnic
3) He's a few tinnies short of a sixpack (Australian Version)


1) In the 'old days' in England we used money called pence, shillings(see picture) and pounds. (now it is just pounds and pence)



A shilling was 25 pence. A 'tuppence' was 2 pence!



so 'tuppence short of a shilling' is actually 23 pence! (This idiom can also be 'he's not a full shilling)



2) PICNIC = WHERE PEOPLE GO OUTSIDE TO 'THE COUNTRY' WITH SOME FOOD (I.E SANDWICHES) AND EAT THEM!




3) A Tinny is an Australian slang word for a can of beer and a '6 pack' is when you buy 6 cans of beer together.



A TINNY (LEFT)

ALL THESE IDIOMS MEAN THAT SOMEONE IS A BIT SHORT OF SOMETHING IN THEIR HEAD - SHORT OF BRAINS AND A LITTLE BIT CRAZY! ! !

The Speedo 17/01/07 - 24/01/07

Remember, the best way to get better at speaking English is to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! What better way to practice than by coming to one of our FREE clubs and lectures? The teachers host fun events EVERY week.... try something new, meet students from other groups, and sharpen those conversation skills!

UPCOMING CLUBS AND LECTURES:

Wednesday, January 17th @ 17:30... Ice-Skating with Jamie!
- meet at the school and then walk to the Rynek to ice-skate! Don't let the winter season end without having a fun afternoon on the ice-skating rink! We will go for hot wine after skating - yum.

Friday, January 19th @ 21:30... Pub Club with Darren and other teachers!
- meet at Fuzon (around the corner from the school) and dance the night away. Pub Club is ALWAYS a blast. Bring your friends for a great time!




Tuesday, January 23rd @ 21:00... KARAOKE CLUB with Terri and Lynsey!
- meet at Guinness Pub and sing your heart out! Singing with Terri is ALWAYS fun!


IDIOMS OF THE WEEK: using the word EASY

EASY means something that is not difficult.

IDIOM 1 - "Easier said than done"
This means that SUGGESTING something is much easier than actually DOING it.

Lee: "I am going to the gym every day this week"
Dean: "That is easier said than done"


John: "I plan to save half of my paycheck every month"
Eric: "Easier said than done"


IDIOM 2 - "Easy come, Easy go"
This means that something you get easily you may lose just as easily.

Darren: "I lost the new watch that my mom gave me for Christmas"
Lynsey: "That's so sad. Easy come, easy go"






VOCABULARY WORD OF THE WEEK: BUG





The word "BUG" has many meanings. See how we can use it in different ways as both a noun and a verb.

A bug as a NOUN is an insect
"The house is covered with bugs - GROSS"

A bug as a NOUN is also a sickness or virus
"Jamie caught the bug - she has been ill for a week"
"The computer has a bug - it isn't working properly"

A bug as a NOUN is also a small electronic recording device
To bug as a VERB is to hide these devices around a room
"The teachers room was bugged - the students recorded everything the teachers said"

To bug as a VERB also means to annoy
"Terri is bugging me, she keeps poking me with her finger"


And Last, but not Least.... a Volkswagon BUG! This is Jamie's FAVORITE car!!!

RIDDLE OF THE WEEK:
Question: In what month do women talk the least?
Answer: February, because it’s the shortest month!

The Speedo 09/01/07 - 16/01/07 (CONTINUED!)

JAMIE'S LECTURE - THURSDAY 11th JANUARY - 7.30PM

Come along to Jamie's lecture on Thursday to look at the human mind! She will help you take a personality test to find out more about who you really are! Maybe you will be as 'MAD AS A HATTER'? (see 'idiom of the week' - later in the Blog!)

Words of the Week: 'CUSTARD', 'JELLY' and 'TRIFLE'

'Custard' is a very popular type of sauce which people in England eat with their desserts. We eat it hot on things like cakes and apple pies (it would be great with Szarlotka!) and sometimes cold (see below)

'Jelly' is very different to custard and must be eaten cold. It is made using 'gelatine' which comes from the bones of animals. First you mix the jelly with boiling water and then put it in the fridge to 'set' (go solid). It comes in different colours like red, green, orange and yellow. Jelly 'wobbles' (this means it shakes and moves in a funny way when you touch it)

SO - We can add jelly and custard together to make a very special and tasty English dessert:

A TRIFLE

A 'Trifle' has jelly at the bottom, custard in the middle and cream on top. Sometimes there are pieces of cake mixed into the jelly at the bottom!

Also, on top of the cream, we sometimes put litlle coloured sugary things called 'hundreds and thousands' (they are called this because there are a lot of them! - in USA these are called 'sprinkles')

All together, they make a delicious dessert - the TRIFLE...


BUT... THE WORD 'TRIFLE' HAS ANOTHER MEANING...

'Trifle' can mean a small, unimportant thing, something which does not matter very much OR it can mean slightly/a little bit.


Lynsey: "Darling - you shouldn't have spent so much money on my Christmas present!!"

Greg: "Don't worry darling. It is only a trifle compared to my love for you!"

OR Dean: "Are you ok Terri you look a trifle tired"

Terri: "I'm fine - i just stayed out partying a trifle late last night!"

JOKE OF THE WEEK

A man went to the pub with some jelly in one ear and some custard in the other

The bar man said "Why have you got custard in one ear and jelly in the other?"

The man said:

"Sorry, you'll have to speak louder - I'm a trifle deaf!"

IDIOM(S) OF THE WEEK: 'AS MAD AS A HATTER'/'AS MAD AS A MARCH HARE'

These are two different idioms that mean the same thing - that somebody is very crazy or mad!

A 'hatter' is a person who makes hats. In the old days, they used to use the metal 'mercury' (rtec) to make one part of a hat. The gas from this metal was very bad for their brains and it made them go crazy! (in the book 'Alice in Wonderland there is a mad hatter)

A 'hare' is like a big rabbit and in March, these hares are very crazy and excited and the boy hares run around looking for girl hares to make friends with !

MARCH HARE AND MAD HATTER HAVING TEA!

The Speedo 09/01/07 - 16/01/07

The Speedo Returns!

Dear Students,

We're all back for the New Year and looking forwards to New Words and new clubs. We are hoping for a ski club towards the end of January but it all depends on the snow and if it comes. Touch wood!!

WE ARE HAVING A FEW PROBLEMS WITH THIS BLOG TODAY SO LOOK OUT LATER TODAY OR TOMORROW FOR MUCH MORE FUN!!!