Exercise 1: Vocabulary

Exercise 2: Mr Bean at the Exam

Exercise 3: The British School System

Exercise 4: Is Private Education a Good Thing?

 Exercise 5: Universities

Exercise 6: The Unspoken Reality Behind the Harvard Gates

 Exercise 7: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Exercise 8: The Future of Learning

 

CULTURE

Exercise 9: Dead Poets Society - Trailer

Exercise 10: Dead Poets Society - Scene 

Dead Poets Society

Painfully shy Todd Anderson has been sent to the school where his popular older brother was valedictorian. His room-mate, Neil, although exceedingly bright and popular, is very much under the thumb of his overbearing father. The two, along with their other friends, meet Professor Keating, their new English teacher, who tells them of the Dead Poets Society, and encourages them to go against the status quo. Each, in their own way, does this, and are changed for life.

Keating- O Captain, my Captain. Who knows where that comes from? Anybody? Not a clue? It’s from a poem by Walt Whitman about Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Now in this class you can either call me Mr. Keating. Or, if you’re slightly more daring, O Captain, My Captain. Now let me dispel a few rumours so they don’t fester into facts. Yes, I too attended Welton and survived. And no, at the time I was not the mental giant you see before you. I was the intellectual equivalent of a ninety-eight pound weakling. I would go to the beach and people would kick copies of Byron in my face. Now, Mr. Pitts? That’s a rather unfortunate name. Mr. Pitts, where are you? Mr. Pitts? Would you open your hymnal to page 542 and read the first stanza of the poem you find there?

Pitts – To the virgins, to make much of time?

Keating – Yes, that’s the one. Somewhat appropriate isn’t it.

Pitts – Gather ye rosebuds while ya may, old time is still a flying, and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying.

Keating – Thank you Mr. Pitts. “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may”. The Latin term for that sentiment is Carpe Diem. Now who knows what that means?

Meeks – Carpe Diem. That’s “seize the day”.

Keating – Very good, Mr. …

Meeks – Meeks.

Keating – Meeks. Another unusual name. Seize the day. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may. Why does the writer use these lines?

Charlie – Because he’s in a hurry.

Keating  - No, ding! Thank you for playing anyway. Because we are food for worms, lads. Because, believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold, and die.

Now I would like you to step forward over here and peruse some of the faces from the past. You’ve walked past them many times. I don’t think you’ve really looked at them. They’re not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts, full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they’re destined for great things, just like many of you. Their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see, gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Carpe. Hear it? Carpe. Carpe. Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.

Exercise 11: Captain Fantastic - Trailer

Exercise 12: SummerHill 

Exercise 13: Fun Translation

A diploma és az intelligencia nincsenek köszönőviszonyban

Egy vidéki főiskolán tanítok, és sajnos egyre gyakrabban meggyőződöm arról, hogy a diploma és az intelligencia (ész) nincsenek köszönőviszonyban sem...

Zh-t írattam az elsősökkel, és már a terembe belépvén kiszúrtam magamnak egy "kislányt", aki tök pinkbe öltözve (már ha az ruha volt rajta!!!), műkörmeivel a tollba kapaszkodva (alig tudta fogni), púderezte az orrát! Hát...nem mindegy, hogy ír 0 pontos zh-t az ember lánya! Látszott rajta, hogy baromira izgul, csak nem tudtam, hogy a kérdéseket várja ilyen izgalommal, vagy hogy kibírja a körme, anélkül, hogy lepattogna a lakk, esetleg sietne szolizni. Ja, a mobilja is rózsaszínű volt, és a hajában is volt egy-két rózsás árnyalatú tincs.

Na, miután "kigyönyörködtem" magam, mondom, írják fel a papírra, hogy NÉV, SZAK..és éppen folytatnám a sort, mire a kislány megszólal: Elnézést! Évszak? Na, gondoltam, nagy az Isten állatkertje, kicsi a kerítés, persze a többiek sírva röhögtek, ő meg abszolút nem értette, hogy min.

Mondtam neki, hogy igen, az évszakon kell felírni, a hónapot, napot, Duna vízállását Paksnál, a Barátok közt tegnap esti epizódjának 5 soros összefoglalóját és a műkörmöse mobilszámát...
Gondoltam, ennyi baromságra csak veszi a lapot...tévedtem, csak az tűnt fel, hogy míg a többiek a kérdésekre várnak, ő már buzgón ír, és láss csodát?! minden adatot megkaptam, kivéve a vízállásjelentést, mert arra azt írta: "Tudom ám, hgy ez beugratós kérdés, mert Paks a Tisza mellett van."

Feladtam. És már nem röhögök, amikor ezt a történetet mesélem. Diplomája lesz.

Az iskolás Hamlet monológja

Minél többet tanulsz, annál többet tudsz.
Minél többet tudsz, annál többet felejtesz.
Minél többet felejtesz, annál kevesebbet tudsz.
Akkor minek tanulni?

Minél kevesebbet tanulsz, annál kevesebbet tudsz.
Minél kevesebbet tudsz, annál kevesebbet felejtesz.
Minél kevesebbet felejtesz, annál többet tudsz.
Akkor minek tanulni?

EXAM

Exercise 14: Questions

1. What kind of school/ university do you / did you last to go? What is/ was a typical day like at your school?

2. Which of your classes do/ did you like / dislike? Why?

3. Hod do/ did you use computers in your studies?

4. Tell us about the last time you took a test / exam!

5. What's your idea of a perfect school? How is/ was your present / last school different from your ideal one?

6. Do you plan to study anything in the future? Tell us about it. Why not? 

Exercise 15: Situation 

 

 Exercise 16: BME Reading 

Exercise 17: BME Gap-filling

Exercise 18: BME Writing a letter

You are going to be an exchange student in the US for a school year. Write a 170-200 word e-mail to your host family about

• yourself
• your interests and hobbies

Ask about

• the price where you will live
• the school, the subjects and extracurricular activities. 

 Exercise 19: BME Writing a letter 2 

23 years after graduating from secondary school, you are the main organiser of your class reunion. It is early spring, but you already want to start organizing the event for the autumn in advance. 

Write a 170-200 word e-mail to your former classmates. In your e-mail, ask them to

• why you have started planning so eary
• the time and the place in detail
• who they can bring along
• give you their ideas about your plans. 

Exercise 20: Phrasal Verbs - Education

Exercise 21: Pink Floyd: Another Brick in the Wall

Exercise 22: The Police: Don't Stand So Close to Me