Improve Your Communication Skills
Calling All (Reluctant) Bookworms
Em is a reader. A bookworm. She always has been, and always will be. Some people love to read, but some people don’t. Which are you? Maybe you are nagged by your parents and teachers for not reading enough. Perhaps reading is a chore, part of your homework assignment that you rush through, without enjoying because it has to be done. Would you like to learn to love reading? Em has some tips for you.
I really love reading. I mean, I really love reading. I learned to read when I was 4 years old, and I’ve never really stopped since. I used to amaze adults with my reading – I read classic Greek literature (translated, obviously) when I was 9 years old.
When I Am Angry – Written by You
Cat is 10 years old and loves dogs, bats and snakes. She has a dog and is working hard to persuade her parents to allow her to have a snake. She likes climbing, playing the piano and drawing.
How To Look At Art
Have you got a favourite painting? Mine is ‘A Portrait of the Countess Golovine’ painted by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, sometime around 1797. It is, unsurprisingly, a portrait of Countess Varvara Nikolaevna Golovine, a talented musician and artist from Russia. Elisabeth and the Countess became great friends and I love the way the Countess is smiling in the portrait, with a red shawl draped around her shoulders and her dark curly hair swept up in behind a scarf. The painting belongs to the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham, which is one of my favourite galleries.
I love going to art galleries and looking at paintings, but at first I found it quite a daunting thing to do. Have you ever been to an art gallery and not known where to start? Or heard art critics talking about symbolism, composition and form but not understood? Sometimes looking at art can sound difficult, and talking about it can be a whole other language!
But looking at art doesn’t have to be complicated. Things like symbolism, where objects in paintings are used to represent something that’s happening, like a skull symbolising death, can be important and the composition, or the way things in the painting are arranged, can tell us a lot about the artist and why the painted what they did.
Ailsa – Our ContiReporter at Women’s U17 EUROS – Day Two
Tuesday 26th of November
Today was match day! England v Italy.
The match was at Telford Stadium so we had a 50 mile journey from St. Georges Park to get there.
It was a rather cold day to be outside but it wasn’t shown by any of the excited school children that flooded the ground, ready to watch the game. Before the match began outside the stadium, Continental Tyres were running a Conti Fan Zone. A variety of football activities were being run for the energetic children.
I had a go at measuring the speed of my kick. On my first go I fluffed it and didn’t even hit the target (that’s why I play in goal!) but on my second go I managed to get 29mph which was quite good.
I had to do a piece to camera about what went on before the match and interviewed two Birmingham City Ladies who were taking part in the activities.
Me and my cameraman David positioned ourselves by the team dugouts, ready and waiting for kick off. When the game finally kicked off it was a fast, exciting game.
Both teams were equal and no team was particularly dominant. The England captain, defender Leah Williamson was a stand out player as she was clearly comfortable on the ball and lead the team with ease.
At half time it was 0-0. For the second half me and David retreated to the press box, due to the days coldness, where Simon and Dad had been watching the game and famous footballer spotting.
I had to do some reporting to the camera at half time about how I thought the match was going. The second half was just as gripping and as nail-biting as the first. Unfortunately England conceded an untimely goal off a deflection. England continued to battle throughout the second half and continuously tried to win themselves back a goal, they came staggeringly close to scoring again but unluckily when the final whistle blew, Italy won 1-0.
The score didn’t reflect the game, a draw would have connoted the game more suitably. After the game, I got the chance to ask Lois Fidler a question at the after game press conference.
Following the press conference I then got the opportunity to interview the current England Ladies Manager, Brent Hills, who was lovely and chatty, I still can’t believe I got the chance to interview him.
I was also fortunate enough to be able to interview Alex Scott, England international, Dave Sampson, Bristol Academy Ladies Manager and four of the Under 17 girls, Leah Williamson, Keira Walsh, Chloe Kelly and Molly Rouse.
I was overwhelmed by the people I got the chance to talk to about the game. As the day came to a close it was time for us to go back to St. Georges Park after a long, jam-packed, thrilling day.
My Multilingual Life – Written By You
‘Do you speak English?’
For British and American girls who travel to a different country, that question is often the first sentence we learn.
‘Sprechen Sie Englisch’
‘Parlez-vous Anglais’
‘habla usted Inglés’
‘Вы говорите по-английски’
‘您说英语吗’
What is it like for the estimated two thirds of the world’s population who speak at least two languages? The people who we refer to as ‘bilingual’, if they speak two languages, and sometimes as ‘multilingual’, if they speak more than two languages.
The researcher and writer David Crystal estimates that of the approximately 570 million people in the world who speak English, over 41% are bilingual in English and some other language.
Today’s contributor knows all about speaking more than one language.