www.ih.kiev.ua

ISSUE VIII - March, 08CONTENTS:IH News............................................. p.1Foreigners about the 8-th of March.p.1-2Get to Know More about your Teacher - Helen Taranenko......................................p.2Meet Your Opportunity.........................p.2Travelling with IH to London.............. p.3Amazing facts.....................................p.4Drinking with IH ................................. p.4

(pdf version available on www.ih.kiev.ua)

IH Team welcome you with SPRING! We hope that this spring with us will be full of colourful moments and impressions! 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:) Hanna K., IH Compass Project Coordinator

YourLanguage

Guide

1

IH KPI Office: 7 Vanda Vasylevska st. T: 238 9870, 236 2264; IH Obolon Office: 24 Heroiv Stalingrada, office 126 T: 442 1330, 442 1331

NEWS

Weaskedournativespeakingteacherstotakepartinthepoll,dedicatedtothisholiday.Eachofthemansweredindifferentwaysbutthesenseissimilar. Sowehadtwoquestionstoourmen:1) What do you think about the tradition of the 8th of March?2) Do you greet women on this day? Andthreequestiontoourwonderfulwomen:1) What do you think about the tradition of the 8th of March?2). Do you like the tradition of celebrating it in Ukraine?3). Would you support the idea of canceling this holiday in Ukraine? Butinthisissuewewouldliketobeginwithourgentlemen’sopinions.So,letusintroduceyou: GRAHAM:1.Passionately praising perfect pictures of pulchritude is preciously palatable. Every lady, from 2-92 has unique beauty and charm to celebrate. 2.I have to greet women respectfully and caringly every day but to be especially aware of them on this day. Even more so, mothers should be cherished and casseted.

NEW TRAINING SEASON has started on the 23rd February with the business training conducted by our business trainers Oksana Semenova and David Peluchatte: Effective Business Presentation Skills. Please see what we offer in March – May in our training centre at Obolon:1-DAY LEGAL TRAINING15th March – Real Property Law5th April – Contract Law17th May – Corporate Law1-DAY BUSINESS TRAINING22nd March – Business Socialising across Cultures19th April – Effective Business Negotiation Skills24 May – MeetingsNEW group of English for Lawyers opened from the 3rd March. This course is offered for lawyers and students studying law from Upper-Intermediate level. After this course students may do ILEC (International Legal English Certificate) exam at the British Council. ONLINE language learning has been launched at IH with Wendy Stenhouse and her student Oksana, who are having Live Online classes using the Vyew classroom on (http://vyew.com) using Skype, the most up-to-date audio and video materials and not, actually, meeting except seeing each other on screens of their computers! This option of learning can be used by those who are not able to visit language courses, but would like to have live classes with their tutors at the most convenient for them place, e.g. home, work, etc. Want to try that? Send your enquiry to online@ih.kiev.uaREGISTRATION for Cambridge Exams is still in progress. The deadline is the 18th March. Here are the fees for those who are going to do their exams at the British Council in May 2008: KET – UAH 495, PET – UAH 520, FCE – UAH 940, CAE – UAH 965, ILEC – UAH 1820THE IH MEN DAY was announced on the 23rd February and each male IH staff member got his present – a corporate

tie with a huge IH logo, so now you will easily tell which one teacher is from IH and which one is not:) IH BOWLING DAY at the STRIKE BOWLING CLUB will be on the 12th April.

The event will start at 12.00 A.M. Participation fee is 40 UAH for 1 person per hour. Registration deadline is the 31st March.

WHAT FOREIGNERS THINK ABOUT THE

8th March

www.ih.kiev.ua

2

MEET YOUR OPPORTUNITY ON the 20th MARCHWhen you think of applying to a

university, you normally pay a visit to the admissions department and try to collect as much information as possible before making a decision. Of course the Internet can answer many questions nowadays, but when it comes to such a serious investment, it’s better to have more real-world impressions than the virtual ones. Visiting a university is an easy thing to do when it is in your city or even in your country, however if you consider applying to an overseas institution it could be quite complicated. Especially if you haven’t decided which country you want to go to. Thankfully, many universities realize this and that’s why they establish international offices and send their representatives to visit different countries to give advice to prospective students.

Our Education Abroad department maintains partnerships with many leading foreign educational institutions and we often invite their representatives to visit Ukraine and talk to our students. In March we will run a series of such events together with International House schools in Kharkiv (18 March), Dnipropetrovsk (19 March), Kyiv (20 March) and Lviv (21 March). Representatives of 8 top-class universities will spend a day at each school and present their programmes to all interested visitors.

Registration is free, so why not come and find out how to get a world-class degree.

20 March 200812:00 – 18:30International House KyivCall Sergey or Irina to registeror email abroad@ih.kiev.ua

Hi, my name’s Helen Taranenko and I’m a new IH English Teacher.

In December 2007 I came back to my hometown, Kyiv after living and working in Singapore for more than 14 years. Do you know where Singapore is?It’s just a small dot on the map of the world. It’s an island state in the heart of Asia, which has become a learning hub for students not only from Asia, but from all over the world. I taught English at the Cambridge School of Languages in Singapore for many years, and during that time I had students from China, Vietnam, Indonesia Colombia, France, you name it. I prepared them for IELTS and other exams necessary for entry to universities in English-speaking countries. One of my favourite classes was an Advanced English class where I had a philosophical monk from Nepal, a very handsome Swiss male model, a 54 year old lady from Israel , a Chinese girl with a Japanese name and a beautiful Korean housewife. You can see some of them in the snapshot. Countries on the world map became alive because of my students’ colourful stories. So what’s it like in Singapore? You’ve got an intriguing blend of Western modernity and Asian culture. Here you can find anything - gleaming skyscrapers, Chinese shophouses, Malay mosques, Hindu temples and endless chains of airconditioned shopping malls. Singapore is INCREDIBLY safe, INCREDIBLY clean, and INCREDIBLY green - proud of its reputation as a Garden City.

I think, now you want to ask me why I left such a perfect place, don’t you?Well, I like it here. Life in Ukraine is challenging and exciting. In IH I’ve found bright students, who are really interesting to teach, and creative friendly teachers, who I enjoy working with. And one more thing… I’m waiting for spring to come, I haven’t seen spring for 15 years. Can you believe it?

Looking forward to meeting you,Yours Helen

ADRIAN:1. Very good! 2. I will do. It’s my first time. MARK:1. I have never been here for this holiday. However, I like it because get a paid day off. 2. I always greet women. DAVID: 1. I think that all women should be appreciated everyday, not just on the 8th of March. I don’t need a holiday to think and appreciate women. I always appreciate them. 2. Yes, in Ukraine. JOHN: 1. It’s great! I agree that all women need to be appreciated at least for one day a year. 2. Yes of course – or they will kill me!!! SIMON:1. VIVA ROSA LUXEMBOURG! 2. Yes, it is always a pleasure to greet! JONATHAN H.: 1. It’s nice but it’s a shame people use it just to get drunk like on all the other special days. 2. Yes, and on every other day as well:) JONATHAN B. 1. I have heard of this but have never PARTICIPATED. It seem like a Soviet construct. I have nothing against it. 2. Not yet.

www.ih.kiev.ua

USA

ENGLAND

FRANCE

UKRAINE

3

TR

AVELLING WITH IH KYIV

to...LONDONSunny and Fabulous London

with eyes of Svitlana Starova

This was a business trip organized by IH Kyiv and focused partially on advancing my knowledge in English and partially on sharing experience with another school in the network of IH. Such trips are annually organized at our centre for the development of staff. To say that visiting London was a dream of my life is to say nothing, so to summarize my impressions of the trip I had to make a list of what amazed me in order not to get lost in my positive emotions:).

1 The WEATHER was absolutely fantastic! In the beginning of February, London met me with the temperature of +16-17 degrees, green and blossoming parks and the odour of early daffodils.

2 The HOST FAMILY met me with a cozy and home-like atmosphere, traditional dishes, 2 huge cats and 1 girl from Korea. I was very lucky because here I managed to try the whole variety of traditional British dishes in spite of the common thought that it, actually, does not exist. Now I can say that the traditional English menu include: fish and chips, roasted veal with potatoes, boiled vegetables and Yorkshire puddings – and I tried that all! I really enjoyed the “home, sweet-home” atmosphere when we were sitting near the fireplace and talking in English after amazing dinners.

3 The IH SCHOOL in London met me with its friendly staff, highly-experienced teachers and well-equipped classrooms. For me, as an IH staff member, it was very interesting to spot all small

details in their working process and organization. What was really unusual for me is the absolutely international atmosphere in classrooms. For example, in my group there were representatives of Chilly, Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Switzerland, and I was the only person in the school who proudly represented Ukraine! Moreover, IH London gathering people of different backgrounds and origins: e.g in our group there were students, teachers, a monk, a son of an oil tycoon and a Client Manager of IH Kyiv:). Being already a part of staff with different cultures and religions it was still unusual to be a member of an even more mixed cultural community. I really enjoyed the time spent with my group-mates in discussions of different points of view and life styles.

4 LONDON itself will stay one of the most memorable and precious moments in my life. The huge London underground system is just stunning, but, at the same time I didn’t feel any pressure there, as the surrounding is really pleasant. Everybody’s reading newspapers there. All streets are overcrowded, but people are very friendly, so you can feel safe and relaxed while exploring London streets, enjoying free-of-charge museums and galleries and walking through its famous and fabulous parks.

www.ih.kiev.ua

4Dear Compass Readers, please send all your comments and wishes re:our

newspaper to marketing@ih.kiev.ua. See U in May! Your Language Guide:)

This recipes have been offered by Iryna, the Study Abroad Consultant of IH Kyiv

VOCABHINT!!!!!

drink

with IH

IH

language nature

spacetechnology

AMAZING FACTS

DID U KNOW THAT????• The word “queue” is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.

• Of all the words in the English language, the word ‘set’ has the most definitions!• “Almost” is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.• “Rhythm” is the longest English word without a vowel.• “Canada” is an Indian word meaning “Big Village”.• “Fickleheaded” and “fiddledeedee” are the longest words consisting only of letters in the first half of the alphabet.• “Taxi” is spelled exactly the same in English, French, German, Swedish, Portuguese, and Dutch.• “The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick” is said to be the toughest tongue twister in English.• “THEREIN” is a seven-letter word that contains thirteen words spelled using consecutive letters: the, he, her, er, here, I, there, ere, rein, re, in, therein, and herein.• “Underground” is the only word in the English language that begins and ends with the letters “und.”• “I am” and “I do” are the shortest English-language sentences with a subject and verb.• “Floccinaucinihilipilification” is the longest word in the Oxford English Dictionary. It means “the act of estimating as worthless.”• The longest place-name still in use is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwenuakitanatahu, a New Zealand hill. It means, “The place where Tamatea, the man with the big knee who slid, climbed, and swallowed mountains, known as land-eater, played on his flute to his loved one.”• No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.• “Stewardesses” is the longest word typed with only the left hand; lollipop” with your right.

Coffee Liqueur (sweets) Mix up 1 liter of beer and 3 glasses of sugar, put in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir up 3 table-spoons of instant coffee in a ½ cup of water, put in the hot mixture. After cooling down, pour in 0,5 liters of vodka, add vanilla and stir.

Refrigerate before serving. Serve for 10.

Egg liqueur8 yolks of eggs, 1 liter of milk, 500 g of powdered sugar and

2 packs of vanille sugar mix together, boil for 45 minutes on a steam bath. Put the mixture in the refrigerator. After cooling down

add 0,5 liter of vodka. Serve for 10.

Sometimes it appeares very handy to have a good recipe of an alcoholic coctail for a party. I would like to share these two with you:) They helped me to make lots of parties

brighter and left noone indifferent. Enjoy!

handy - зручноto stir - мішатиa yolk - жовток (яйця)a serving - порція