IH Compass 11th Issue

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Guide

IH KPI OFFICE: 7 Vanda Vasylevska st. T: 238 9870, 236 2264; IH OBOLON Office: 24 Heroiv Stalingrada ave, office 126 T: 428 03 30, 428 0331

ISSUE XI - DECEMBER, 08

CONTENTS:

IH NEWS

IH NEWS..................................Study Abroad............................Travelling to Italy.......................Christmas around the world.....Laugh with IH...........................Cook with IH.............................

Nice to see you, our respected readers! The IH Team welcomes you among our friends: present and potential clients. All your opinions, comments and wishes regarding the contents of IH Compass are highly appreciated. We are always trying to become better and stay your favourite Language Guide :)

Your IH Compass Team

p.1p.1p.2p.3p.4p.4

STUDY ABROADINTERNATIONAL HOUSE KYIV

IH is further expanding its network of educational partners around the world. This time we would like to introduce you to two beautiful European countries –

Czech Republic and The Netherlands.

Czech Republic is a stunningly beautiful and highly devel-oped country in Central Europe with century-old traditions in education. Its capital Prague has been one of the most popular tourist destinations over the last years and its system of education, which is fully integrated into that of the EU can offer many advantages over some more distant countries.Universities in Czech Republic offer modern infrastructure, the newest technical equipment, easy and transparent enrolment procedures, lots of subject areas, governmental support for students, affordable living costs, and most importantly – free higher education at public universities. The only requirement is knowledge of the Czech language (which is by the way very similar to Ukrainian and Russian).

Our partners in Prague – International Youth Centre – have established specialized preparatory courses for international students who wish to study in Czech Republic. The courses run for 1 year or 6 months and include intensive Czech, English and preparation for university entry. A 1-year course costs € 4200,- and a 6-month course is € 3200,- and after this university education is free of charge.

The Netherlands, or Holland as it is often called, is a country in Northern Europe famous for tulips, windmills and famous artists. However this very modern European country can offer much more than beautiful architecture and picturesque landscapes. Its educational system offers 1300 study programmes in English, great research opportunities, international study environment in the heart of Europe and excellent value for money.

Our partners – Fontys University of Applied Sciences and HAN University of Applied Sciences – offer Bachelor degrees in Economics, Business Administration, Information Technol-ogy, Engineering, Communication and other subject areas – all taught in English!

All you need is your secondary education and knowledge of English. One year costs just € 3500,- and the whole programme consists of 4 years.

To find out more, please visit us in the EducationAbroad department or check our website for updates.

www.ih.kiev.ua

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IH Statistics for the 3rd semester: 828 students (KPI) and 222 students (Obolon).

We are incredibly proud of our teachers Lana Sushko, Jane Mitchel, Marina Gayduchenko and Iryna Shastova who took part in the annual YL conference in Italy. (see p.2)

This winter the YL department will conduct 3 different competitions. Winners will be awarded with special IH prizes.

Please, pay attention to the schedule of lessons for this semester. Holidays will start on the 22nd of December and will last until the 8th of January. On Saturday the 10th of January all Monday classes will be conducted. On Saturday the 17th January Tuesday classes will be conducted.

At the beginning of the 4th semester IH is slightly increasing prices for all kinds of services. To get more information, please, contact the office.

An intensive 2-week course for Elementary and Intermediate levels will start on the 19th of January. The quantity of placements is limited; contact the office to sign up!

A new course for translators will start on the 19th of January. Some more placements are still available.

IH wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May all you dreams and wishes

IH Compass - Issue XI, December 2008

Travelling withIH to...

ITALY

As a part of International House World Organi-zation, IH Kyiv took part in the annual Young Learners Conference which was hosted this

year by IH La Spezia, a town on the west coast of Italy. Four of our teachers Lana Sushko,

Marina Gaiduchenko, Irina Shastova and Jane Mitchell enjoyed the spectacular views and the

delicious cuisine of the Ligurian village of Portovenere.

Buongiorno!

IH: So, how was your trip? We travelled to Pisa via Munich with Lufthansa and I must say all of us really enjoyed the service. The gap between planes was 30 minutes, and we were scared to miss the flight. If you’d seen the huge 6-level airport of Munich, you could imagine what we felt when a minibus drove us from the plane to the gate for security check, and then straight to the plane to Pisa, and we didn’t have to rush through the whole airport trying to find our gate.

IH: What’s your first impression of Italy? Beautiful but expensive. The place where we stayed was called Porto-venere, which is Venus’ port in English. It’s a popular tourist destination in summer, but at this time of year we could enjoy walking up and down the narrow medieval streets without having to worry about hordes of tourists.

IH: Where did you stay? We stayed in a small hotel, but the view from the balcony was amazing – the sea, the mountains, the castle and the sunny sky!

IH: Which IH schools were present at the conference? There were representatives form Belarus, Czech Republic, Portugal, Ukraine, Germany, Romania, Russia, England, and Italy.

IH: What did you bring back home? As there were four of us at the conference, we had a chance to visit all the sessions, and of course everyone brought their own bag full of ideas. Jane says : ”The experience of other schools enables us to position ourselves, and gain a clearer picture of what challenges may await us, so we can respond 'informed' to situations such as changing demographics, and plan more effectively for the future of our YL Department. Particularly beneficial was to learn how a large number of schools were experiencing notable growth in YL departments, particularly in VYL, and the emergence of a group of Young Learners with Upper Intermediate and Advanced knowledge of English.”

IH: Where’s the next conference? We are proud to host the next IHWO YL Conference here in Kiev. It’s lots of work and preparation but we have had a chance to draw on experiences of other schools over the last couple of years.

IH: Did you like Italian food? Buonissimo! Perfetto!! I liked it so much that I decided to cook something Italian at home. My family couldn’t believe it was Italian soup and everyone asked for a second helping. And in case you are curious… you can find the recipe on the last page of this paper :)

238 9870, 238 [email protected]/yl/Lana

Young Learners Departmentwww.ih.kiev.ua

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238 9870, 238 [email protected] ESP Department

Christmasis all around us! You know you're getting old,

when Santa starts looking younger.Robert Paul I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included. Bernard Manning

Even before Christmas has said Hello, it's saying ''Buy Buy'' Robert Paul

Christmas is a time when everybody wants his past forgotten and his present remembered. What I don't like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day. Phyllis Diller

Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas.Johnny Carson

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall. Larry Wilde

Christmas is a time when you get homesick - even when you''re home.Carol Nelson

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.Roy L. Smith

Christmas is a time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults tell the government what they want and their kids pay for it. Richard Lamm

FAMOUS PEOPLEabout Christmas

www.ih.kiev.ua

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The beginning of the New Year has been welcomed on different dates throughout history. Great Britain and its colonies in America adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752, in which January 1st was restored as New Year's Day. Ways of celebrating differ as well, according to customs and religions of the world. People in Muslim societies, for example, celebrate the New Year by wearing new clothes. Southeast Asians release birds and turtles to assure themselves good luck in the twelve months ahead. Jewish people consider the day holy, and hold a religious ceremony at a meal with special foods. Hindus of India leave shrines next to their beds, so they can see beautiful objects at the start of the new year. The Japanese prepare rice cakes at a social event the week before the new year. Whatever the custom, most people feel the same sentiment. With a new year, we can expect a new life. We wish each other good luck and promise ourselves to do better in the following year. America In the United States, the federal holiday is January first, but Americans begin celebrating on December 31. Sometimes people have masquerade balls, where guests dress up in costumes and cover their faces with masks. According to an old tradition, guests unmask at midnight. At New Year's Eve parties across the United States on December 31, many guests watch television as part of the festivities. Most of the television channels show Times Square in the heart of New York City. At one minute before midnight, a lighted ball drops slowly from the top to the bottom of a pole on one of the buildings. People count down at the same time as the ball drops. When it reaches the bottom, the new year sign is lit. People hug and kiss, and wish each other "Happy New Year!" England The New Year in England is celebrated with great enthusiasm. The New Year is celebrated either by having a party at home with family and friends or gathering at a pub or club. At the stroke of midnight the people in England spend their time by cheering, hooting, whistling, kissing and drinking toasts. The custom of exchanging gifts on New Year has become widely popular in England. . In England the children rise early on New Year so that they can make rounds to neighbours singing songs. The children are given sweets, coins and apples for singing. The people in England believe that if the singing is not done by noon then the singer will be called a fool. Scotland Historians believe that the celebration of Hogmanay, as the Scottish New Year is called, was inherited from the Vikings who, coming from even further North than ourselves, paid even more attention to the passing of the shortest day. There are traditions before midnight such as cleaning the house on 31st December (including taking out the ashes from the fire in the days when coal fires were common). There is also the superstition to clear all your debts before "the bells" at midnight. Immediately after midnight it is traditional to sing Robert Burns' "For Auld Lang Syne". An integral part of the Hogmanay partying, which continues very much today, is to welcome friends and strangers, with warm hospitality and of course a kiss to wish everyone a Happy New Year "First footing" (that is, the "first foot" in the house after midnight) is still common in Scotland. To ensure good luck for the house, the first foot should be male, dark (believed to be a throwback to the Viking days when blond strangers arriving on your doorstep meant trouble) and should bring symbolic coal, bread, salt, black bun and whisky. These days, however, whisky and perhaps bread are the only items still prevalent (and available). Ireland Ireland is renowned for traditions and superstitions – many of which have surrounded the New Year's celebrations. Long ago in Ireland it was customary to begin a new year with a clean house, so houses were thoroughly cleaned as it was thought that a spotless house was to be good omen for the year ahead. Even after all the Christmas festivities, the Irish liked to have their houses full with provisions and the cellar filled with coals on New Year's Eve. This was done in the hope that the coming year would be equally as plentiful. The family sat around the table and enjoyed a big meal and counted in the New Year together. Another Irish tradition that was carried out to bring in the New Year, involved banging on the doors and walls of the house with the Christmas bread! It sounds daft, but this custom was thought to chase the bad luck out and bring good spirits to the household. It was also thought that this ritual was done in the hope of having enough bread for the New Year.

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1. Wash the tomatoes and slice them.2. Add the garlic chopped finely, the oregano, the thinly sliced onion and the basil leaves sliced thinly. Mix well. 3. Refrigerate for about one hour before serving.4. Just before serving add the oil and salt and mix well.

1. Pour about 500g. chickpea flour into one and half litre of water, and check that there are no lumps.2. Add salt to it.3. Let it rest for a few hours, filter it, and then pour it into a big pan with a glassful of cooking oil.4. Stir the mixture again to absorb it.5. The mixture, that has to be about one cm high, will be put in an oven and backed until a golden crust appears.6. Guests will add a pinch of pepper on their portions.

1. Put all the vegetables washed and diced into the pan.2. Add 0.75 liter of water.3. Add some salt and oil, boil for 20-30 min until the vegetables are ready.4. Mash the vegetables while it’s hot (you can tip out some water if you want your soup thicker).5. Ladle soup into bowls, serve with grated cheese, basil and croutons.6. Buon appetito!

Insalata di pomodori Tomato salad from south of Italy

Italian soup

Farinata

Cook with IH

500 g. chickpea flour1/2 litre water1 glass cooking oilpepper, salt to taste

1 small pumpkin (not tiny) –it should create about 4 cupsof mashed pumpkin1 medium onion 1 medium carrot4 cloves of garlic2 medium potatoes4 spoons of olive oilSalt, basil, parmesan cheese,croutons

6 medium size ripe tomatoes1 clove of garlic1 tsp. dry oregano1/4 red onion sliced6 leaves fresh basil2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oilsalt to taste

dice v - нарізати кубикамиladle v - розливати (по тарілкам, стаканам тощо)grate v - натирати (на терку)croutons - грінки в супіchickpea - нут, турецький горохlump - грудка

VOCABULARY HINTS

www.ih.kiev.ua

4 Dear Compass Readers, please send all your comments and ideasregarding our newspaper to [email protected]. See you next year!

Once upon a time in England, a very mean witch was terrorizing the local population, who finally went to see a wizard to see what could be done about her. The wizard gave them a potion that would turn the witch into a statue.The townpeople managed to put the potion in the witch's food. When she found out about this, she turned green with rage, but it was too late and the potion worked as expected. The jubilant population had a big celebra-tion and parade, and placed the petrified witch in a park as a public example.Pretty soon, people discovered that the witch had been frozen in a position that made her a perfect sundial, and

started using her to tell the time of day. The custom grew and even today, people often refer to Mean Green Witch Time.

His older brother leaned over and nudged his brother and said, "Why are you shouting your prayers? God isn't deaf."

"I know" he replied, "But Grandma is!"

A few days before Christmas, two young brothers were spending the night at their grandparent's house. When it was time to go to bed, and anxious to do the right thing, they both knelt down to say their prayers.

Suddenly, the younger one began to do so in a very loud voice.

"Dear Lord, please ask Santa Claus to bring me a play-station, a mountain-bike and a telescope."

If GH stands for P as in HiccoughIf OUGH stands for O as in DoughIf PHTH stands for T as in PhthisisIf EIGH stands for A as in NeighbourIf TTE stands for T as in GazetteIf EAU stands for O as in PlateauThen the right way to spell POTATO shoud be: GHOUGHPHTHEIGHTTEEAU

IH Compass 11th Issue

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