Acta

      The name 'Acta' has been inflected for all cases by the national media. 'Acta' stands for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. It is an international document which aims at preventing the trade           of counterfeit goods. What is more, the purpose of the agreement is to introduce strict laws against copyright infringement on the Internet. The act raised a storm of protest all over the world, particularly among the youth. People are afraid that this agreement may constitute the end of freedom of speech and bring such web portals and programmes as 'Facebook', 'Twitter' 'Youtube' and 'Skype' to an end. Moreover, they argue that listening to music, watching films and sending documents to one's friends on the Internet will no longer be possible. As you may often speak about this issue at school during your English classes, here is some vocabulary for you which concerns the act.

Glossary

to intlect for sth - odmieniać przez

stand for - oznaczać

counterfeit /ˈkaʊntəfɪt/ - falsyfikat

false, fake, counterfeit - fałszywy
forger, counterfeiter - fałszerz

aim at sth - mieć na celu

prevent - zapobiegać

trade - handel

agreement - zgoda, porozumienie

goods - produkty

aim, purpose - cel

introduce - wprowadzić

law - prawo

infringement  /ɪnˈfrɪndʒmənt/ - naruszenie

copyright - prawo autorskie

raise - wywołać

the youth - młodzi ludzie

constitute - stanowić

freedom of speech - wolność słowa

bring sth to an end - zakończyć

argue - uważać, argumentować

issue - zagadnienie

concern - dotyczyć

act - ustawa

Taking part in a demonstration

The photo comes from : http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=3302&picture=protest

Wild life a bit closer...

Doué la Fontaine zoo is an impressive biopark in Western France. The idea of this type of zoo is very appealing to me - animals live in the open with fences and nets being hardly noticeable. The zoo is home to 70 species, such as giraffes, rhinoceros, penguins, red pandas, lions and vultures. What struck me most, yet, was a dazzling show of numerous species of parrots, flying just above spectators' heads and eating goodies from the animateur's hand.   Wonderful  scenery, pens and omnipresent greenery make the park even more alluring...There is one more advantage of such splendid parks - the opportunity to take nice pictures! 

Here are some photos I took last spring :

The giraffe

Various species of parrots

The tortoise

The red panda

The pelican

Flamingoes

The parrot

Colouful feathers

Stunning plumage

The birds approach visitors

Greenery is omnipresent there

A haze-covered cave

The hippopotamus

In the zoo there is also a restaurant with a splendid view of the run of the giraffes from a  wooden terrace and a great souvenir shop, where you can buy wooden statuettes of animals, soft toys for children and many more...

GLOSSARY

appeal - podobać się

in the open - na odkrytym terenie

fence - ogrodzenie

net - siatka

hardly - ledwo

noticeable - zauważalny

vulture - sęp

strike-struck-struck - robić wrażenie

dazzling - olśniewający
species - gatunek; gatunki

spectator - widz

goodies - smakołyki

pen - wybieg

omnipresent - wszechobecny

greenery - zieleń

alluring - urzekający

splendid - wspaniały

opportunity - okazja

plumage - opierzenie

feather - pióro

approach - zbliżać się

cave - grota

haze - mgła

Something more...

go to the zoo - iść do zoo

zookeeper - opiekun zwierząt w zoo

feed - karmić

take care of sb/sth - opiekować się

cage - klatka

run, pen - wybieg

'A citizen of the world' - Melody Gardot

Melody Gardot is an American jazz musician, a singer, composer, pianist and a guitarist, who sings in English and French. She calls herself 'a citizen of the world', though. As her mother (a photographer by profession) travelled       a lot, she was mostly brought up by her grandmother, a Polish immigrant. She started learning music when she turned nine, and as a 16 year-old             she already performed in bars in Philadelphia, singing and playing              the piano. In 2003 riding a bicycle, she was knocked down by a car.                             As a result of the accident, she suffered serious head and spinal injuries and her pelvis was broken in two places. 

Gardot was confined to her hospital bed for one year and she had to re-learn

simple everyday activities, such as walking and combing her hair. The most noticable consequence of the accident was the fact that she got hyper-sensitive to light and sound. She is often seen wearing dark sunglasses protecting her eyes. At her doctors' prompting she began her music therapy in the hospital, learning to play the guitar and composing songs. Gardot has already released two albums -
                  'Worrisome Heart' and 'My One and Only Thrill'.                                                                                                         

To my mind, her music is very mature, charming and atmospheric...

Listen to two great songs of Melody Gardot -
"Our love is easy" and "Les etoiles" :

Glossary

composer - kompozytor

citizen - obywatel

to bring up - wychowywać

to knock down - potrącić

spinal - adj.; 'kręgosłupa' (e.g. injury; uraz)

pelvis - miednica

confined to bed - przykuty do łóżka

hyper-sensitive - nadwrażliwy

at sb's prompting - po namowie kogoś

therapy - terapia
worrisome - kłopotliwy
thrill - dreszcz, przyjemność

mature - dojrzały

atmospheric - nastrojowy

J'ai attrapé un coup de soleil ...

I heard this song about two years ago when I was living in France..."Le coup de soleil' by a French-Italian singer, Richard Cocciante,  is a song which makes me think about summer, the sun, the sea ..all the things that make one's holidays wondeful..."Tu as attrapé un coup de soleil!" is a sentence   you may often hear in France if you spend too much time sunbathing ;)         (in English - 'you've sunburnt!') This song really haunts me...whenever        I listen to it, I keep singing it all day.. ;) ...

Here is the version I heard first..the version of Camélia Jordana, a stunning participant of Pop Idol (Fr. La Nouvelle Star) :

'Attraper un coup de soleil" is definitely something my face wouldn't mind at the present time...! ;)

"In Darkness" has been nominated for an Oscar!

I have just heard wonderful news... The latest Agnieszka Holland's film -"In Darkness" has been nominated to the Academy Award in the category 'Foreign Language Film'! The movie tells the story of a Pole, Leopold Socha, who during the Second World War undergoes a dramatic transformation, changing from a pilferer into   a courageous man who saves a group of Jews  from certain death. The Polish-German-Canadian cooproduction  has received very good reviews in the national end international press. The movie stars Robert Więckiewicz in the leading role, Agnieszka Grochowska, Kinga Preis, Maria Schrader and Benno Fürman. We will keep our fingers crossed for Ms. Holland and her outstanding work!

I invite you to see the trailer of the film :

Oscar vocabulary

an Oscar - ;)

a statuette - statuetka

award - nagroda

a nominee - nominowany

category - kategoria

ceremony - ceremonia

gala - a gala  /ˈɡɑːlə/ event 

Best Picture = the best film

motion picture = a film

Foreign Language Film - film zagraniczny (nieanglojęzyczny)

the red carpet - czerwony dywan

Glossary

undergo - przechodzić

transformation = a change

save - ocalić

certain - pewna

death - śmierć

Jews - Żydzi

pilferer - złodziejaszek

courageous = brave

receive - otrzymywać

review - recenzja

press - prasa

a film stars sb - w filmie występuje

leading role - rola główna

outstanding - wspaniały

work - dzieło

Les Géants

Have you heard about 'Les Géants' in Nantes? They are huge marionettes made by a street theatre company based in Nantes, called Royal de Luxe. The group have made numerous  puppets, including a huge mechanical elephant, the Giant Little Girl, The Mexican Giant, The deep-sea Diver and the dog Xolo. Each year there are great parades organised in the streets of  Nantes. During the shows, the marionettes are operated by numerous disguised men and accompanied by a music band, which follows the puppets. It's a great opportunity for the public to see the marionettes moving, enjoy wonderful shows and spend weekends in an exceptional way.

Here are some photos which I took last May :

The Little Giant sleeping

The marionette walks very realistically

Thousands of people come to see the show

The Mexican Giant

The Giant is 9,5m tall

The Giant Elephant

People can climb the elephant

You can see the elephant all year long

Royal de Luxe have created some charming stories around the marionettes...Each character has its own story...
Watch a short film to see the Giants (the video is in French) :

The company has already performed in France, Belgium, England, Germany, Iceland, Chile, Australia, Mexico and Japan! 

Glossary

French-English-Polish

géant - giant - olbrzym

marionette - marionette - marionetka

gigantesque - huge - ogromny

marionette, guignol - puppet - kukiełka, marionetka

parade - parade - pochód

 déguisé - disguised - przebrany

foule - crowd - tłum

The video comes from : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VeLBMmp1gE&feature=related

Winter vocabulary

Winter has not forgotten about us! It has shown its frosty face again..Here is some winter vocabulary for you along with my photos : 

Plants covered with snow

My cat playing with snow

The titmouse pecking at a fat ball

A pine tree covered with snow

A bird feeder among snow-covered branches 

The first snows of winter

Glossary

frosty - mroźny

covered with - pokryty

titmouse - sikorka (pl. titmice)

pick (at) sth - dziobać

fat - tłuszcz

a ball - kula

a pine tree - sosna

a bird-feeder - karmnik

among - pośród

a branch - gałąź

first - pierwszy

Word Formation Exercise 1 - Answers

Here are the answers to the first exercise in word formation :

NOUN	VERB	ADJECTIVE
MATURITY (DOJRZAŁOŚĆ)		……MATURE…….
…PROFESSION…..		PROFESSIONAL
…EMPLOYMENT… (ZATRUDNIENIE) / …EMPLOYER…. (PRACODAWCA) / …EMPLOYEE…. (PRACOWNIK)	EMPLOY (ZATRUDNIAĆ)
…RESPONSIBILITY…		RESPONSIBLE
KINDNESS (DOBROĆ)		……KIND…….
LOVE	LOVE	…LOVEABLE… (ROZKOSZNY)
TOLERANCE	…TOLERATE…	TOLERANT
…KNOWLEDGE… (WIEDZA)	KNOW
OBEDIENCE (POSŁUSZEŃSTWO)	……OBEY…….. (PRZESTRZEGAĆ)
…DEPTH…		DEEP
……STRENGTH………		STRONG
HEIGHT		……HIGH…….
INTEREST	……INTEREST……	INTERESTING
ABSENCE (NIEOBECNOŚĆ)		……ABSENT……..
……ANGER……… (ZŁOŚĆ)		ANGRY
…AGREEMENT...	AGREE
………BEAUTY……. (PIĘKNO)		BEAUTIFUL
……BEHAVIOUR……. (ZACHOWANIE)	BEHAVE
…BRAVERY... (ODWAGA)		BRAVE

Word Formation Exercise 1

Today I would like to post the first exercise in word formation. Forming nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs is often required during exams. Even though there are some general rules which can make your task easier, unfortunatelly there are many exceptions and often you need to learn words by heart.

Below you can find some words which appear frequently during exams. Your task is to complete the table with nouns (rzeczowniki), verbs (czasowniki) and adjectives (przymiotniki). Good luck!

WORD FORMATION

NOUN	VERB	ADJECTIVE
MATURITY (DOJRZAŁOŚĆ)		………………….
……………………..		PROFESSIONAL
……………… (ZATRUDNIENIE) / ………………. (PRACODAWCA) / …………………. (PRACOWNIK)	EMPLOY (ZATRUDNIAĆ)
……………………………		RESPONSIBLE
KINDNESS (DOBROĆ)		………………….
LOVE	LOVE	…………………… (ROZKOSZNY)
TOLERANCE	…………………	TOLERANT
……………………… (WIEDZA)	KNOW
OBEDIENCE (POSŁUSZEŃSTWO)	……………….. (PRZESTRZEGAĆ)
…………………		DEEP
………………………		STRONG
HEIGHT		………………….
INTEREST	……………………	INTERESTING
ABSENCE (NIEOBECNOŚĆ)		…………………..
……………………… (ZŁOŚĆ)		ANGRY
…………………………….	AGREE
…………………………. (PIĘKNO)		BEAUTIFUL
………………………. (ZACHOWANIE)	BEHAVE
…………………………….. (ODWAGA)		BRAVE