2003 | The World of English

Chicago: My Kind of Town

CHICAGO : My Kind of Town

The international blockbuster Chicago won 6 Oscars at the Academy Awards ceremony on March 23. The musical, set in 1926, is a tale of obsession with fame and celebrity during the period of Prohibition. But what was Chicago really like at that time? Steve DeBretto, who grew up in the Windy City, writes that the real characters and stories of Chicago are even more fascinating than the musical.

2003

What a Wonderful World

Brody Gets an Oscar, Madonna Gets a Raspberry

2003

Put Another Language in Your Luggage

And this year was no exception, with over 600 different events taking place in 40 countries celebrating Europe's linguistic diversity and lifelong language learning. In Poland, the Foreign Languages Department of Wroclaw University of Technology staged an IATEFL Conference, which brought together teachers and course book authors to exchange ideas and experience. A joint art exhibition, entitled We in Europe, took place in both Człuchów and Constance, Germany, among many other events happening simultaneously all over the country.

2003

Sylvester Stallone and His Mom

When writer Stas Wnukowski met his old friend Jacqueline 'Mama' Stallone at Warsaw airport recently, they quickly became nostalgic about the time when Sylvester 'Rocky' Stallone knocked out Stas's two front teeth.

2003

R U An SMS Poet?

Millions and millions of text-messages are sent everyday worldwide. Its use is so common that the SMS form of shorthand English has entered the language's most respected dictionary, parts of the Bible have been rewritten in SMS, and now people are even writing poetry this way. Now it is your turn to see if you can become the Shakespeare of the text-message.

2003

Little League World Series 2003

Russia defeats Guam 2-0 for the 1st victory by a Native European Team at LLWS

Wild 14 - 13 game teaches an important lesson: Never give up!

Japan wins the World Series Title for the 3rd time in 4 years

2003

Baseball

Do It Like They Do It On Discovery Channel

Valentine's Day is the time of year when romance is - as the saying goes - "in the air". But romance is also in the sea, on the land, in the hay, and in the bushes. In fact, love is everywhere! Below are just some of the ways in which our furry friends, great and small, "get it together".

2003

Interview with Australian Ambassador, Mr. Patrick Lawless

With low unemployment, a high standard of living, a warm and friendly people and an even warmer climate, it's no wonder that so many want to live, work and study in Australia. The World of English went along to the Australian Embassy to meet His Excellency, Mr. Patrick Lawless, the nation's representative in Warsaw.

2003

Honesty in the Classroom?

British students are among the least likely to cheat in exams, claims Dr Ron McLone, Chief Executive of the Cambridge, Oxford and RSA Examination Boards. "From evidence gathered from other parts of the world, I think we can safely say that we are on top of the league." said Dr McLone.

2003

Editors for the Day

Welcome to the part of the magazine that you, the readers, write. This time we have invited pupils from Warsaw's Władysław IV Liceum. The school is one of Warsaw's oldest and best. Founded in 1885 it has a long and rich history. The building survived two wars and retains many of its original features. The school also has a long list of famous and respected alumni, the most well known perhaps being Janusz Korczak.

In Love with the Uniform? You Bet!

2003

What a Wonderful World

World Santa Claus congress meets in Copenhagen

One hundred and twenty Santa Clauses from around the world met this autumn in the Danish capital for their 40th annual convention. The agenda for the three-day event included key issues such as when Christmas should be held this year. After much debate the red-nosed and jolly Santas decided, unanimously, that December 24 should be designated as Christmas Eve. Observant readers might notice that this is the same day as last year, and the one before, and the one before that. But never mind.

2003

Editors for the Day

Welcome, once again, to the part of the magazine that is written by you, the reader. This time, it is students from the Miguel de Cervantes secondary school in Warsaw. The lyceum was founded in 1947, and in 1991 adopted the name of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote and other classics. It was in that year that the school introduced into its curriculum the first ever Spanish/Polish bilingual classes in Poland.

2003

An Englishman's Home is His Castle

An Englishman's Home is his Castle - on Credit

2003

Study in Australia

Nowadays, an increasing number of young people are choosing to study abroad. I completed a master's degree at Cracow Jagiellonian University after finishing my BA in Ireland. Now, years later, I have started a master's degree in International Relations in Perth, Australia.

2003

From Brain to Backdoor

They are invisible to the naked eye. They move around the world, spread by innocent users of the Internet, destroying all that gets in their way. They are computer viruses, and the damage they cause has already cost companies billions of dollars. Our resident IT expert, Deji Akala, has a few tips for those who want to protect themselves.

2003

Secret Shopper

Each June, high school and university students across America pack away their books for three months and go to work. For some of these students, summer jobs are a way to soak up the sun while earning pocket money as a lifeguard at the beach or a caddy in a posh golf club. For others, they're the first rung on the professional ladder, padding a résumé and imparting essential business skills. But as Steve DeBretto from Chicago explains, some summer jobs can be just plain weird.

2003

Power to the Pupils

The results of the 2003 PupilPower Competition, sponsored by The British Council and The World of English, among others, were announced to an excited audience at the Roma Theatre, Warsaw, on June 17. The winners were from the V Liceum Augusta Witkowskiego, Kraków, who received their award from Queen Elizabeth's cousin, His Royal Highness, the Duke of Kent.

The Duke of Kent, British Council Director, Susan Maingay, and the delighted winners from Kraków

2003

The American Connection

Millions of American tourists come to London every year to get in touch with their own history. Take a trip with us around some of the more famous landmarks that have connections with the origins of the United States.

Let's start in the area known as Rotherhithe, on the south bank of the River Thames, just east of Tower Bridge. Undoubtedly, this is the most important, and the most popular, place among American visitors to London. It was here that the voyage of the ship The Mayflower began, a story known to schoolchildren all over the US.

2003

What a Wonderful World.

Many students take a "gap year" between finishing school and starting university. Many go and work in another country and get some experience of the world outside the classroom. Prince Harry is no exception. He is spending a few months in Australia and is working on a sheep farm in Queensland as a jackaroo - a farm labourer. On a 39,000-acre farm in somewhere called Tooloobilla, Harry is rolling up his sleeves and helping put the sheep through the sheepdip.

2003

Language Companion

Taskmasters gives you the language exercises: Letters to the Professor sorts out your grammatical problems, while Hilary Davies answers your etiological questions in our new feature, Theories and Queries. Barry Keane, our resident bard, gives you top tips in The Art of Poetry Translation. In Letters to the Editor we publish the results of our SMS Poetry Competition. The English Language Olympiad reaches the first part of the second stage, and we present sections of the UJ Tests.

2003