Dear Mr. Robertson,
We are a group of students from University “ Džemal Bijedić” in Mostar who have listened to your show. We really liked the show because it was so interesting and you were talking about an issue that was connected to us.
Since we have heard a lot of different opinions, we would like to give you our own comments.
First thing that seemed interesting for us was the discussion about that supermarket sign “ 10 items or less”. We know that it is basically incorrect but since it is understandable to the majority we think that it is acceptable.
The next thing that had our attention was the discussion about fluency and accuracy. Balance in everything is always needed so we think that balance between these two things is also needed. In the other hand, we think that accuracy can be learnt while fluency is something you were born with. How to make a balance? Easily. Accuracy you get by time and fluency is something you were born with, but you can make it better or worse by reading and expanding your vocabulary. So, you only have to learn by time to be accurate and read as much as possible you can.
We also want to give our comment on what should the professors teach the students. They should teach them the correct and incorrect forms so that they could know the difference between them. With ‘incorrect forms’ we don’t think of totally wrong or made up forms but of the forms that are accepted and understandable for most people that speak English.
In the end, we would like to say that we really love and enjoy listening to your show. We would like you to have as many as possible shows of this kind because they are very useful for students, especially for the ones that are non-natives.
Sincerely yours,
Second year’s students of English language and literature
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Sunday, April 1, 2007
My experimental phase
MY EXPERIMENTAL PHASE
I suppose that everyone had experimental phases during their life, especially teenage years, but I am pretty sure that I’m the one that had really a lot of them. When I started writing this I didn’t know about which experimental phase to write about. I was thinking a lot and I remembered one that is really interesting, and it is from the time when I went to elementary school.
This phase happened when I was in the senior class of elementary school.
We had a sport class. Every month we would learn history and rules of a game, and then play it. That was the month we learnt about volleyball. I thought that it will be something boring and I was only waiting the end of the class. So, the teacher put the net and started explaining. I didn’t want to listen to him because it was sooooo boring to me. But, I didn’t have anything else to do and I started listening to him. I couldn’t believe it! For the first time, something about sport was interesting to me. And I really started listening. It became more interesting when the teacher started explaining the way how the game is played. I loved the most that two rows of three people. Three in front, three from the back, and one of them was serving. I think that that was the thing I loved the most about this game. That raspored was just perfect for me. Everything seemed to be in an order. Everything was just in its place. I am sure that because of that I really started loving this game. On that class I decided to be a big volleyball player. There is a smile now on my face. I was only 13 then and I knew that for sure.J Yeah, right.
So, I really started playing volleyball. In one month, I started living for this game. There was nothing else for me at that time. Only that ball, the net and my trainings. Our school had organized trainings and I went every day there. I was the first there, and I would take the ball and start playing with it, trying serves. Then, when the others were there I was the one that was really in to the game. I would run, jump, accept hits and even throw myself on the floor because God forbid that one ball falls down on the floor and I didn’t hit it back. At that time I would rather jump from a window than miss the ball.
I lived in a dream that I would play this game my whole life and that I would be a great player and I would be very proud on myself. The first thing on my mind was this game, the last thing before I went to bed was this game. Nothing else existed. Not family, nor friends, nor my pets, nor going out. Only school and volleyball. I organized my whole life by this game. I wanted to travel with my team, go abroad, to get a scholarship. Just dreams…
Time came to prepare for the first competition. I was so disappointed! We had a preparation test, like a test for fitness. Everyone can see that I’m not tall. I didn’t have enough height for volleyball. I was devastated. I found myself in something and I was not able to play it. At that moment, it seemed like my whole life was ripped apart. Immediately, I stopped playing the game and started living a normal life. My experimental phase ended like this.
When I look back, it seems so funny to me. I was just a kid with big dreams, and I though that the entire world was mine. Those four months for me only represented the volleyball time. I lived for it, ate for it, slept for it and drunk for it. Only me, the net and the ball. It has been seven years since then. Time runs fast.
I have learnt that you must never be interested in something very much because you’ll probably be disappointed. You make your own world and then it is crushed. You don’t know where to go.
But this was sport. I also learnt that it is very good to play some game and to go to trainings. You try so hard, you want to be the best and you have respect towards yourself. That is the great thing.
But bad things are always more remembered.
Maybe because of that phase for these seven years I never took a volleyball ball in my hands ever again…
I suppose that everyone had experimental phases during their life, especially teenage years, but I am pretty sure that I’m the one that had really a lot of them. When I started writing this I didn’t know about which experimental phase to write about. I was thinking a lot and I remembered one that is really interesting, and it is from the time when I went to elementary school.
This phase happened when I was in the senior class of elementary school.
We had a sport class. Every month we would learn history and rules of a game, and then play it. That was the month we learnt about volleyball. I thought that it will be something boring and I was only waiting the end of the class. So, the teacher put the net and started explaining. I didn’t want to listen to him because it was sooooo boring to me. But, I didn’t have anything else to do and I started listening to him. I couldn’t believe it! For the first time, something about sport was interesting to me. And I really started listening. It became more interesting when the teacher started explaining the way how the game is played. I loved the most that two rows of three people. Three in front, three from the back, and one of them was serving. I think that that was the thing I loved the most about this game. That raspored was just perfect for me. Everything seemed to be in an order. Everything was just in its place. I am sure that because of that I really started loving this game. On that class I decided to be a big volleyball player. There is a smile now on my face. I was only 13 then and I knew that for sure.J Yeah, right.
So, I really started playing volleyball. In one month, I started living for this game. There was nothing else for me at that time. Only that ball, the net and my trainings. Our school had organized trainings and I went every day there. I was the first there, and I would take the ball and start playing with it, trying serves. Then, when the others were there I was the one that was really in to the game. I would run, jump, accept hits and even throw myself on the floor because God forbid that one ball falls down on the floor and I didn’t hit it back. At that time I would rather jump from a window than miss the ball.
I lived in a dream that I would play this game my whole life and that I would be a great player and I would be very proud on myself. The first thing on my mind was this game, the last thing before I went to bed was this game. Nothing else existed. Not family, nor friends, nor my pets, nor going out. Only school and volleyball. I organized my whole life by this game. I wanted to travel with my team, go abroad, to get a scholarship. Just dreams…
Time came to prepare for the first competition. I was so disappointed! We had a preparation test, like a test for fitness. Everyone can see that I’m not tall. I didn’t have enough height for volleyball. I was devastated. I found myself in something and I was not able to play it. At that moment, it seemed like my whole life was ripped apart. Immediately, I stopped playing the game and started living a normal life. My experimental phase ended like this.
When I look back, it seems so funny to me. I was just a kid with big dreams, and I though that the entire world was mine. Those four months for me only represented the volleyball time. I lived for it, ate for it, slept for it and drunk for it. Only me, the net and the ball. It has been seven years since then. Time runs fast.
I have learnt that you must never be interested in something very much because you’ll probably be disappointed. You make your own world and then it is crushed. You don’t know where to go.
But this was sport. I also learnt that it is very good to play some game and to go to trainings. You try so hard, you want to be the best and you have respect towards yourself. That is the great thing.
But bad things are always more remembered.
Maybe because of that phase for these seven years I never took a volleyball ball in my hands ever again…
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