Was My Mind Playing Tricks on me?

    I was alone in the house reading a scary-ghost-story. As snow fell silently outside, the only sound was the ticking of my old grandfather clock. The dying fire cast an orange glow onto the walls of my study.

    I was absorbed in the story when suddenly I began to fell that someone was watching me. The clock stopped ticking, I looked around, but I could see no one was- my mind playing tricks on me. 

    Trying to ignore my intense fears I returned to my book after. A few seconds though the book was knocked to the floor by an unseen hand. “Who’s there?!”  I cried. I saw something standing in front of me. That made my blood runs cold. A shadowy white ghost pointed a pale finger at me. It`s mouth moved: “Come on”. “Come with me”, it said.

    “What do you want? “, I managed to ask shaking with fear. The ghost took me by the hand and led me to the window; just as we reached it the clock truck twelve. Mysteriously I found myself back in my armchair. My book was beside me. I looked around, but only Murk, my cat, was in the room, trying to make herself comfortable on my lap. “Where’s the ghost?” I wondered. Than laughed at myself. “I`d better stop reading ghost-stories”, I thought. But then I felt a cold wind blowing in through the now open window.  

Halloween

    Halloween is a festival that takes place on October 31. In the United States Children wear costumes and masks and go trick-or-treating.

Many of them carve jack-o`-lanterns out of pumpkins. Fortunetelling and storytelling about ghosts and withes are popular activities. 

Halloween developed from New Year festivals and festivals of the dead. Christian church established a festival on November 1 called All Saint`s Day so that people could continue to celebrate their festivals. The Mass said on All Saint`s Day was called Allhallowmass. The day before All Saint`s Day was known all hallow`s Eve or All Hallow e`en.

The main Halloween activity for children is trick-or-treating. Children dress in costumes and masks and go from door to door saying “trick or treat”.

The neighbors give children such treats as candy, fruit and pennies so that children do not play tricks on them.

Jack-o`-lanterns are hallowed-out pumpkins with face carved into one side. Most jack-o`-lanterns contain a candle inside. An Irish legend says that Jack-o`-lanterns are named after the man called Jack. He could not enter heaven because he was a miser, and he could not enter hell because he had played jokes on devil. As a result, Jack has to walk on the earth with his lantern until Judgment Day.

Fortunetelling is an important part of Halloween. For example, a coin, a ring, and a thimble were backed into a cake. It was believed that the person who found the coin would become wealthy. The one who found the ring would marry soon. And the person who found the thimble would never get married. Today people practice card-reading or palmistry.

People once believed that there were many ghosts and witches on the Earth and that they met on October 31 to worship the Devil.

Today people do not believe in ghosts and witches but they like to tell stories about them on Halloween.  

  

interview

-        How are you?

-        So-so.

-        What`s up?

-        I have read the article “What is necessary to learn English well”

-        Had you found something interesting? And what information gives this article?

-         Actually this article is divided into 3 sections. The first section is devoted “Why we learn English”, the second – “English makes you fill well”, and the third about usual students with the title “Three biggest challenges facing an English learner”.

-        Oh. I had read these articles too. Honestly, I was amazing when I read that we must do crazy things such like talking to yourself in English or spending our evenings reading a dictionary

-        And we must do these things regularly, constantly, every day…

-        You know…I have no strong motivation…I mean that I spend my time in doing some exercises, I read books in English, of course I practice my pronunciation, but I don`t do it constantly. I have no time.

-        I see.

-        I have the lack of time. But I want to speak English well.

-        I think that you have not high level of motivation. At first you ought to work on your motivation, you ought to be such kind of person who enjoys doing them. If you want to speak English well, you will spend more time on it, and you will do it regularly.

-        All right. I know it, and what about you// do you have high motivation?

-        Of course I have!

-        And what are they?

-        From the one hand it is my lessons. Do you know that I work as a teacher at school? And I prepare to the every lesson. I think that I am a real perfectionist!

-         I consider you exaggerate a little bit.

-        OK. Can you say me how are you improve your motivation for learning English?

-        My motivation? At first it is my marks. At second I know that it is my future profession, and I want to be a real teacher. I also want to talk to native speakers just like I talk in my first language. At third I like to communicate in English. I have conversations with my pen-friend. He learns English too and he is on the same level of skills like me, I think.

-        And what it gives? I fond of our communication. These conversations increase my interest in English?

-        Do you like it?

-        Of course I do. I’m able to discuss my problems with him.

-        I understand but I think that to have an eye-contact conversation is better. I like my classes. I like to teach.

-        I’m agree with you that I’m not a perfectionist yet. That’s why it is my higher motivation. I know that I’m good, but I know that there is a lot that I do not know. I always try to find my weak areas and work on them.

-        Do you have some problems?

-        I have. But they are quite small, for example, pronunciation.

-        And what do you do?

-        I spend some money on learning English. I spend on grammar books, on internet in order to communicate on e-mail etc.

J.: I spend my money on learning English too. I also buy books in English for my pleasure. I receive various recording in English.

L.: What for?

J.: I listen them and try to understand what is being said. And then I try to imitate the speakers pronunciation.

L.: It’s very interesting.

J.: I know. Have you read the article “How to learn English”?

L.: I have. How do you think will these guidelines , described in the article benefit to usual English learners?

L.:Probably, yes, when someone still doesn’t know about them.

Ju.:Do you think its really effective way of gaining knowledge by permanent watching cable TV with English programs and dobbed cartoons, beating an adventure computer games and reading lyrics or science-fiction books?

Len.:I think, every kind of practice can help student to increase knowledge.

Ju.:How did you achieve your English?

Len.:I started learning English from 6^th form by going to English classes at school. It was awfully ineffective. I did everything that the teacher told me to do: the homework assignments, everything. But the were no results. I made a lot of mistakes in my pronunciation and spelling. My oral speech was very slow. Learning English was rather burying and annoying for me. So I gave up. Currently my English knowledge doesn’t conform to the requirements. I occasionally spoke with foreign native speaker customer. That’s why I used only a simplified English. Recently I’ve took. Skype program on my PC and now I eager to reinforce my English because I’ve to append new words for my good skype conversation. My desire increased.

 Ju.:Some guys gave their advices how to achieve perfect English. I will follow this successful peoples track.

My comment

I had read the introduction “Motivation for learning English” I had never thought about my motivation for learning English before this article. I thought that it is only my marks or some words from my lecturer like “well done” or something like this. Speaking about the article “What is necessary to learn English well” I cant help saying that there is one more kind of learning English except this kind (1)read a book in English; (2) listen to an audio book; (3) to work on your pronunciation;  and so on. I think that there is one the most important way of learning English. This way is very easy: to watch English movies. Statisticians say that one from the more effective and comprehensible method of learning English language is a watching of English movies without translation. At first you will seem that you understand nothing. But at real our brain install the connection between what is happen in the screen and our speech. And you will be surprise remembering “unknown” words. Honestly, I am ashamed of my low motivation of studying English in front of you. I had never do such “crazy” things like talking to myself in English or spending my evenings reading a dictionary or practicing the pronunciation of the “r” sound and so on. Of course I have been doing my home tasks for these years, but it is not enough to do only home-work, as I have understood already. 

How to find work-life balance for the perfect English teacher?

I like working with people more than anything else. Especially I like to communicate with the CHILDREN more than with adults.  They are better, kinder, cheerful, and cleverer. Because they haven`t know such things as cruelty, hypocrisy, hatred, contrived love, the filling of being dispensable and isolated. They have a lot of hopes and they can get on in life successfully. The work of teacher is not only the work witch offer you the studding of young people, it is the work witch helps them to get on in life and become better and happier than you and their parents are. Speaking about children, I can`t help saying that they ARE OUR FUTURE, and of course THEY ARE NEEDED A REAL TEACHER. If you are ill-informed about something or have a lack of some knowledge, you will often go back to your textbooks and never be a real teacher. A REAL TEACHER SHOULD BE A WISE, HELPFULNESS, SHARP-MINDED PERSON, trainer at studying and minder at life, but not a tyrant.  Naturally I will be glad to teach them, but I can`t yet because of many reasons. The first, and the most important reason is that I`m not a perfectionist. I have some practice of studying, but it is not enough. A REAL TEACHER IS A PERFECTIONIST, who doesn`t make mistakes, has no fear of public- speaking and always knows how to start the lesson and how to finish it, has grade life experience, good knowledge from a school and an institute. It is petty to think, but as a rule, PERFECTIONISTS HAVE NO FREE-TIME.  This kind of teacher knows how to teach and what way to teach, and he/ she knows how to get started with the work and how to give knowledge. The knowledge is our treasury. Remember that what you learn institute is important, but how you use that knowledge to make yourself by a perfectionist is more important. Unfortunately, a real perfectionist has no free time, because he/ she needs time for preparation to the lesson, for development his/her skills in odder to know everything. I think that THERE IS ONLY ONE THING WICH IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE FOR PERFECTIONISTS – HOW TO FIND WORK-LIFE BALANCE for the perfect English teacher?!                  

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