Dear blog,

This Friday is the last lesson in international English before Christmas. The day was spent by taking some quizzes and watching the film Narnia by Walt Disney Pictures. The author of the film is C.S. Lewis. He has written the entire Narnia series, in addition to seven other books. He was born in Ireland in 1829 and died 1963. The film was very well made with many advanced film methods, however I personally am not fan of fictional movies. 

The film is about the British kids Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susan who discover a hidden wardrobe in a professor’s house while they were playing hide and seek. They were sent away from their mom to escape the war. The wardrobe in Professor Digory Kirke’s house lead then to a magical land called Narnia. It was a white, snowy land full of weird and wonderful creatures.  In Narnia there is an evil white witch. The kids together with Aslan, a talking lion fights against the witch. The children become king and queens after their victory.    

Christmasjoy!

Christmas is a holiday in Norway celebrated in December. It is a holiday where you appreciate what you are given and spend time with your dearest family. In Norway many families spend their holiday on the mountain. It is a place to relax and come away from your usual every day. You are guaranteed that the cottage is covered in snow. Candles are lightened and the Christmas tree is decorated. The smell that hits you is Christmas. The spruce with presents under, Christmas music and turkey in oven creates the Christmas spirit I love. Christmas is something you must enjoy. You may look forward to lighter and warmer months, however I say carpe diem! Appreciate the Christmas, it is a wonderful time where you get to spend time with the ones you love the most!

Merry Christmas to everybody:)

Picture is created by myself on paint, imagines are from flickr :)

English in Japan

Dear blog!

This week in International English we learned about English in Japan. We read three different texts and answered questions about them. The texts were Manga and anime, English in South-East Asia and The triumph of Japanese English. I personally liked the first text best because it to me contained most interesting and new facts.

I worked with my classmate, Shirin. We began with reading one text first, and then answered a couple of questions. Personally I like working this way, because I like reading out load and then talking and discussing what we recently read.  The theme, English in Japan was very interesting to work with. I actually didn’t know anything about English in Japan therefore it gave me a lot of new knowledge. I for instance learned about how the Japanese Manga and animie have affected the western world. I find it very interesting that people from all ages read them!

To do this assignment we got approximately 2 hours. The way we spent our time was in my eyes pretty good and organized. If I were to do something differently I would have researched on this theme on the internet to get some input from others than only the book.

Susanna:) 

The picture is an example of a chinese manga!

We watched the movie, the kite runner!!

As I have mentioned earlier on my blog, we are finished reading the book the kite runner, and now we have begun to see the film. I have seen the film once before, but I enjoyed it this time too. In my eyes it was maybe even better this time, because I had recently read the book and had the book fresh in mind. To me the film of course gave more impressions than the book. Seeing the boys in “real life” and seeing the conditions, adventures and the relationships are definitely heartbreaking scenes and it certainly sets an impression.

A paragraph I chose from my double entry journal and compared it with the film was the one when Amir overheard his father saying to his friend Rahim that Amir was a boy who couldn’t stand up for himself. It was pretty early in the film, and different than I had imagined. From the book I had got an impression that after Amir overheard this he was angry and sad at Hassan, however in the film it didn’t seem like there were any arguments other than Amir maybe being slightly jealous of the part Hassan had in Baba’s heart.

Even though we haven’t seen the entire film finished, I can truthfully say that seeing the film is a breathtaking and unbelievable film experience. In my opinion the most memorable part has already past, when Hassan gets raped, however the fight Amir will fight to win back Hassan’s son is yet to be seen and I think that part too is unforgettable.

The Kite Runner, a memorable book!

Dear blog. It is now a couple of weeks ago since we finished the book the kite Runner, however I am still sitting her with impressions and thoughts. There was actually a part in the book that really set an impression on me. That part was when Amir returned to Afghanistan and got the letter Hassan had written to him. The letter shows us what a good person Hassan was, the way he had forgiven Amir and still loved him with all his heart was to me a very touching moment in the book. To me this is probably one of the most memorable parts in the book.    

 All in all I really enjoyed reading this book. I have seen the film earlier nevertheless reading the book was something totally different and to me it is no doubt worth reading! I love the way the book is written and I strongly recommend it to everyone who wants to read a memorable book, which you won’t forget.

Love, Susanna

Reading the kiterunner in class!

This week in International English our day consisted reading The Kite Runner. I read from chapter four. We got to know about Amir and Hassan’s childhood together. Hassan loved listening to Amir read. Amir read poems, stories and riddles, although Amir stopped reading riddles because he so Hassan was far better than himself to solve them. So he rather read him unchallenging things. The best part while reading to Hassan was when he came across hard words, and then he teased him. One day Amir started composing his own story, and Hassan said that was the best story Amir ever had read him. From then on Amir started writing his own stories. He wanted to read it to Baba, nevertheless he didn't have any interest. His friend Rahim Kane however read it and thought Amir had a gift from God in writing. Further in the book, Kabul awoke. The King was in Italy, and his cousin Daoud Khan had ended the kings forty-year reign with a bloodless coup. 

My favorite paragraph so far in this book might be when Amir was upset with his father because he didn't read his story,  in that paragraph Amir wished Rahim Khan was his father. After thinking this Amir overcame of guilt, and vomited in the sink. In my eyes this is a very good description of Amir’s relationship to his father and how he worships him.

Susanna:)

The Kite Runner

In International English now, we have begun to read the very famous book "The kite runner". It is written by Khaled Hosseini and it was published in 2003. The novel is about a boy named Amir and his friend Hassan, who is son of Amir's fathers Hazara survent. Amir lives with his father, a wealthy businessman. His wife, Amirs mother died during birth of Amir. The setting is in Kabul.

Baba, Amir’s father is concerned about Amir not being man enough, and that Hassan always has to back him up. One day the two boys were going to the cinema. They took a shortcut through a military barracks, when suddenly one of the soldiers called out to Hassan. "Hey you, I know you". Neither Hassan nor Amir had ever seen this man before. He began screaming, "I knew your mother, real good. I took her from the behind by that creek there". The solider kept shouting rude things, and the boys ran off. Later during the movie, Hassan cried. Further in the novel I get the impression that Amir is desperate to win his fathers approval, he doesn’t like when Hassan gets more attention than him.

I read to chapter four this weekend, so far I think the book is very exciting. I've never read this book before, however I have seen the film a couple of years ago and in my eyes it was breathtaking and unforgettable.

trailer of the movie you can see by pressing here

Hugs from Susanna

Facebook at school

Facebook is a worldwide network that approximately 2.3 million people use. Now a day’s students use the computer at school almost every day, but it is not only used as a "notebook", the internet comes along, at this has shown a result in lower exam results. The reason is because the students use facebook while there working with their exam. A student not using facebook while preparing to the exam scored 20 percent better resalts. Why is it so that students use facebook in their schooltime? Is it because there is not enough to do at school, or because it is too boring? 

Profesor Paul Kirschner who wrote about how facebook is affecting your studies, here is a quoted: "While people may think constant task-switching allows them to get more done in less time, the reality is that it extends the amount of time needed to carry out tasks and leads to more mistakes". In my eyes this makes sense. The reason I agree is because doing many things at the same time, you don't get every single point, and therefore you have to use time outside school. Some may mean that schools should set up a block against facebook, however I think this only would provide to that the students find other pages and networks on the internet or on their computer which will distract them the same way facebook does. In my opinion, being on facebook in school time is your own decision. It only affects your own schoolwork and results.       

A short text about the movie, Erin Brockovich

Dear blog! This week at International English we heard what Alan November's thoughts around education is, and we started watching  the movie Erin Brockovich. Our task this week was to either write about Alan November's thoughts or to write about the movie. I chose to write about the movie,  Erin Brockovich with Julia Roberts in the main role. It is a drama film about Erin's fight against the PG &E, and it is based on a true story. The film starts with Erin being an unemployed mother of three. She was postponed for a car accident but she lost her case, so she didn't get any compensation.  Eventually Erin got a job at a lawyers office working with files. She runs over a case she found interesting and starts digging for information. She discovers that the PG&E is responsible for the illness for many families in town. 

The story tells as about how a one person can make a difference, in a huge world. Erin had a lot of difficulties in her life, but she never gave up and she fought for others, ever though she didn't have the greatest and life herself. She sacrificed a lot during her way to justice, however her story tells us that nothing is impossible as long as you have faith in yourself. In my opinion this movie shows that even though you don't have the best education and life, you can make a big change in the society and world. If you want to se a trailer of the movie, click her.

Love Susanna:)

picture from flickr

Friday, August 20, 2010

Hi, my name is Susanna and I live in a valley called Lommedalen, about 20 minutes from Oslo in Norway. I turned 17 years in July and in my spare time I enjoy being with friends, working out and playing handball. This fall is my second year at Sandvika vgs and one of the optional subjects I have chosen this year is International English. So, my first homework in this subject was to create a personal blog. The reason I choose exactly, international English as one of my optional subjects is because English is in my eyes very important. It is a language that everybody should understand, in that way I think the world can communicate better. My expectations to this semester of the year is learning about the language English, it's influence on the world and the languages meaning in different parts of the world.      

During the first class we also watched some filmclips. One of them was, The butterfly circus. The topic of the movie was hope. The movie was mainly about a man who didn't have leggs nor arms, and the message was  theirfore that there is hope for everyone, if you just don't give up and have faith in yourselv! Everybody is worth the same, and that is one of the main points in the movie!

Susanna:)

picture is from Lommedalen from flickr