Here are some more mini sagas, written by my students in the upper lycée group.

5. The New Job, by Louis

Today I was shocked when I saw my alarm clock. I was really late so I took a very quick shower, I rapidly ate some toast and I went to my new job. It was strange because there wasn’t anybody on the road. Then I realized that it was Sunday.

6. A holiday romance, by William

Imagine, a romantic couple, in the eternal city, Roma. Imagine them on the edge of the Trevi fountain. Imagine them, sitting at a table, amorously, face to face. You could think that it is the perfect romantic evening, with the soft sun…

Yes, just think, that couple could be us!

7. The Runner by Jean-Côme

He was concentrating on the starting blocks. On his left there was Usain Bolt, the world champion. Suddenly, he heard the gun shot. He ran. One hundred meters later, when he crossed the finishing line, he saw all the other competitors behind him. He had won.
And he woke up …

8. The Misunderstanding by Marie

Bob asked his Mum,"Where do I come from?" She struggled for over thirty minutes to explain complicated stuff about sex when he stared at her and replied, "Why did you tell me that?
John told me he came from Paris, France.

I just wanted to know where I came from!"

9. Fear by Claire

She was walking in the dark night. A strange noise behind her. The sound of footsteps. Feeling absolutely terrified, she started to run.
Run, just run, without thinking, without hearing the screams, just saving her life.
A hand on her shoulder, she screamed loudly. Just her brother yelling: “Wake up!”

10. The Promotion by Bronwen 'cos I love writing Mini-sagas!

Expecting to be promoted, I invited my boss to dinner. Unfortunately, my cat stole the steak and chewed it. I washed and trimmed the meat, and fried it in garlic and butter. My boss is such a gentleman - he said it tasted delicious.

But I never did get that promotion!

]

11. Hey Jude by Emilie

I saw Jude Law in my kitchen this morning. He looked so handsome and he smelled really good, like in the Dior commercial. And in the next moment, he was gone. Then suddenly I was in Paris with my sister, someone stole her purse.
I just had a weird dream.

Film Review (student article)

By Claire – studying at B2

Film : We Want Sex Equality (Original title: Made in Dagenham)
Director: Nigel Cole.
2010
Historical drama
GB.
4 nominations at British Academy for Film and Television Awards ceremony (BAFTAs)

The scene takes place in 1968 in Dagenham (a town near London). A woman worker at the Ford motor car factory discovers that men have a better salary than women for the same job, therefore she decides with all the other women to fight against its American owner to obtain "Sex Equality".

I really liked this movie for many reasons:
First, it's instructive; it's about Ford's well-known big strike in 1968.
Secondly, this movie shows how determined women are to maintain the strike despite their own problems.
Finally, the way the movie is shot is brilliant: the decors and costumes are perfect, it's cool and funny; and at the end of the movie, we briefly see the real characters speaking about their real experience.

Personally, I particularly liked two characters:
_ First, the foreman who has respect for women (due to his mother's hard life )
_ Second, the English minister, who is a woman. In my opinion there are likenesses between her and our English teacher, Bronwen, both physically due to her hair and her mischievous eyes but what's more in the way she manages : she is confident, enthusiastic and funny.

In conclusion, I had a very good time with this English movie and I recommend that you see it in V.O,(the original English version) it is on at "La Garenne" in Vannes this week.

http://www.linternaute.com/cinema/film/1701739/we-want-sex-equality/

***********************************************************************
Teacher’s note

I am delighted to be compared to the beautiful and talented actress, Miranda Richardson, as well as Barbara Castle, the feisty and intelligent character she plays in this film, who was the Minister of State for Employment at the time in Harold Wilson’s socialist government.
She helped make history when she intervened in the Ford sewing machinists’ strike of 1968, in which the women of the Dagenham Ford Plant demanded to be paid the same as their male counterparts. She helped resolve the strike, which resulted in a pay rise for Ford's female workers, bringing them to 92% of what the men received. Most significantly, as a consequence of this strike, Castle put through the Equal Pay Act 1970.

Can you tell the difference between the teacher, the actress & the politician?

And here are the real women who fought for equal rights

Rennes Air Show 2010

BC: What did you do at the weekend Romain?

Romain:I went to Rennes airport to see an air show which commemorated The Battle of Britain from World War 2.

BC:Did you have a good time?

Romain:Oh, yes, it was great! It was really beautiful watching the planes moving in the sky, in 3D, in freedom.

BC:What sort of planes did they have there?

Romain:There were old war planes, such as the Spitfire, the Zero and the Messerschmitt. There were also acrobatic demonstrations by the Rennes aero club instructor and the French Air Force acrobatics team. They had old planes such as the DC-3, and Air Force planes such as the TBM 200 and the Rafale.

BC:As the air show was to commemorate The Battle of Britain, were there any other British planes there, apart from the Spitfire?

Romain: Yes, the famous Red Arrows were there! They are considered to be the best aeronautical acrobatic team in the world so it was an honour to see them. During the demonstration one of the pilots stayed down to explain the different acrobatic figures, and as the Red Arrows came in front of us he said through the microphone: “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are proud to present THE ENGLISH RED ARROWS!”

BC: You took some very good pictures too, I see.

Romain: Yes, I took a lot of photos. It was a wonderful day out which I’ll never forget and I’d like to thank all the demonstrators who took part. One day, I hope that I’ll be on the other side of the barrier – because I really love flying too and my aim is to become a professional pilot.

BC: Thanks for telling us about your weekend, Romain - and I hope your dream of becoming a pilot comes true!

To have a little taste of the Rennes Air Show which took place on 25th & 26th September 2010, click on the link below. The Red Arrows performance comes at the end of the clip. It's certainly worth watching.

Historical note: The Battle of Britain was the name given to the air campaign (Luftwaffe against the Royal Air Force) which took place over the English Channel and the Home Counties (Surrey, Sussex, Kent) between 10th July & 31st October 1940. For more information about this decisive battle, click on the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain

*******************************************************************************************************

Student article, by CM studying at level B2

I used to learn English when I was student but I stopped more than 30 years ago. I have been learning English again for 3 years at "English connection" in Vannes. I am very pleased with my lessons and I improve my skills little by little. But this year, I wanted to go to England , I asked about that to Bronwen, my teacher, and she suggested to me " HARVEN ".
"HARVEN " is a little school situated in Woking , a town in south west of England (30 mins by train from London). So one day in February I left France to go to England .......

J'étais hébergée chez l'habitant (le but était d'être en immersion totale) je suis tombée chez une femme de 59 ans séparée, vivant seule, très gentille, ayant l'habitude d'héberger des étudiants chez elle depuis une vingtaine d'année ; j'avais ma chambre, petite mais confortable (avec ma propre douche, le bonheur !) Je dinais tous les soirs avec elle et son fils (cuisinier au chômage), revenu pour quelques temps habiter chez sa mère. J'ai donc bien mangé mais oui, c'est possible (même si on ne coupe pas à la fameuse sauce "marron" que l'on retrouve dans beaucoup de plats). J'avais également la chance de pouvoir aller à l'école à pied (un quart d'heure en marchant vite, et comme il faisait très froid durant ces 15 jours, c'était parfait.)

Woking Town Centre

Quant à l'école, j'ai tout de suite été emballée par sa taille et l'ambiance qui y régnait, en fait on se croyait plus à la maison que dans une école, c'était dû au fait que la structure était toute petite:
Au rez-de-chaussée se trouvaient le secrétariat, la salle des ordinateurs, la salle des profs et la grande salle : sorte de salon/salle à manger/kitchenette réunis où se retrouvaient les étudiants pendant les pauses pour discuter, lire et pour les repas de midi que nous prenions sur place. Au premier étage 4 ou 5 salles de cours de petite dimension (le nombre d'élèves ne dépassant pas 8). J'ai eu la chance, à mon avis, de tomber à une des périodes les plus calme, ce qui me convenait parfaitement. J'étais bien évidemment la plus âgée (54 ans), la majeur partie des étudiants ayant entre 23 et 30 ans maximum mais cela ne posait aucun problème (de mon côté en tout cas).
L'ambiance était chaleureuse. J'étais la seule française, venue pour 15 jours, parmi des élèves venant d'Espagne, d'Arabie Saoudite, du Yémen, du Liban et ce pour plusieurs semaines voire plusieurs mois.

Harven School of English, Woking

Les cours sont très bien structurés, les horaires précis. Les professeurs se doivent d'avoir un accent neutre, compréhensible pour toutes les nationalités, ce qui n'est pas forcément le cas entre étudiants. Les programmes, sur ordinateur, qui complètent les cours magistraux sont très bien faits et très intéressants (malheureusement, spécifique à l'école et donc non praticable par la suite) On y a accès soit après les cours soit dans l'après-midi suivant le programme choisi. Il y a tout le temps quelqu'un de disponible pour nous aider.

Personnellement j'ai énormément apprécié ce séjour linguistique, j'ai travaillé mon anglais du matin au soir (depuis la radio dès le réveil, au cours journalier jusqu'au "homework" quotidien pour finir par les news télévisés) Quelques visites tout de même le week-end : Windsor, Guildford, Londres.

Covent Garden, Londres

Windsor Castle

Je ne mesure pas vraiment les progrès que j'ai pu faire, 15 jours c'est tellement court, mais j'ai vraiment "baigné" à 100 % dans la vie anglaise. Je pense d'ailleurs y retourner en fin d'année ou début d'année prochaine. Si il y a un reproche à faire ou plutôt un "manque" ce serait le manque de communication dans la famille mais là, c'est "pile" ou " face".

Une chose importante à noter, j'avais une autre possibilité d'école : International House à Londres" et je pensais y faire mon 2ème "stage d'immersion" mais après en avoir discuté avec les jeunes étudiants de Woking qui connaissaient le fonctionnement de cette école, j'ai changé d'avis; en effet, il y a beaucoup plus de possibilité de niveau (donc un qui vous correspond mieux) mais le revers de la médaille est qu'à chaque fin de cours tous les élèves se retrouvent par groupe de nationalité et parlent bien évidemment leur propre langue et ceci plusieurs fois par jour, ce qui, personnellement ne m'attire pas du tout et n'est pas recommandé pour évoluer.

Voilà pour ma petite expérience. Depuis mon retour mon assiduité s'est un peu relâchée car j'ai dû m'absenter à 2 reprises et n'ai pu reprendre sérieusement mes cours et leçons, par contre, la pose se termine cette semaine et je pense bien m'y remettre, de plus je viens de m'abonner aux chaînes anglaises afin d'essayer d'améliorer ma compréhension orale qui "pêche" un peu chez moi.

Merci à Bronwen pour ses bons conseils.
Claire

http://www.harven.co.uk/

Student article

England lost the 6 nations tournament 2010. Why?

By RLR studying at B1

In response to the Bronwen’s beautiful poetry, I’d like to reply, in a funny way on the reasons of a defeat.

That it should be a nice match. Everything was united on this evening of March 20th and the Stadium of France was bathed in the rain.
Battles were persevered. At 20 minutes to the end, the score was 12-7. Johnny Wilkinson arrived in his nice white shirt.

10 minutes later, only a drop in corner and the score was 12-10 which would not change any more before the end. It’s a devil!
The last minutes were crazy. I had butterflies in my stomach.

To win, another possibility was offered to the coach : incorporate Richard Custance. For months he’s been training on the grounds of the Morbihan, near Pontivy and at present in great form.

Martin Johnson, “Why didn’t you call him?”

He was ready to penetrate on the pitch (see evidence of him in the photo below).

In 2011, don’t forget him!

René