IT’S FUN TO BE A NERD!

“Oh no, I hate studying” – I bet all of you have used this (or a similar phrase) at least once in your life. Today I want to show you that learning a new language is not only about doing grammar exercises and studying vocabulary from your textbook.

My English teacher showed us three links this week – and I’d like to introduce them to you and show you that it can be “fun to be a nerd” ;)

Link #1: http://breakingnewsenglish.com/

Every week an English teacher writes one (or two) short articles about current events. You can choose between the categories Business English, Environment, Health, Issues, Lifestyle, Famous People & Gossip, Technology and World News – so I’m sure you'll find something that you are interested in. You can read the article the teacher wrote and afterwards do some exercises – like “Fill-in-the-blank”, play “Hangman”, “Missing words” or “Crosswords” and much more – all fun ways to improve your vocabulary and reading comprehension.

Link #2: http://eslnotes.com/synopses.html

Who doesn’t love movies? Another English teacher provides information about a bunch of classic movies (like Apollo 13, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Cast Away, Dumb and Dumber, Psycho, …). The document for the movie you choose will give you a lot of information about the main characters, a pretty good plot summary and some words and expressions that you may not know. It also has a list of possible questions you may have after watching the movie, which you can discuss with your friends and family.

Link #3: http://www.lyricstraining.com

This site gives you the opportunity to listen to (and watch) your favorite music (-videos) – while learning new vocabulary. How? While listening to your song the lyrics will be displayed underneath the video. But the lyrics will have blanks in it, which you have to fill. There are three different game modes – Beginner (10% of the words are missing), Intermediate (25% of the words are missing) and Expert (all of the words are missing) – it’s actually trickier than it sounds, especially when you choose songs like “Love the way you lie”, where Eminem raps pretty fast ;)

So who says studying and learning a new language is boring? Give it a try – you will be surprised how much fun it can be to improve your language skills!

I want to wake up, in the city, that doesn't sleep...

Today I want to introduce to you: My favorite city in the world - NYC.
I've been there 7 times during the last year - and I'm pretty sure it's not gonna be the last time.

For me, growing up in a tiny village, big cities have always been fascinating – and NYC is the most fascinating of them all.

I guess all of you know the major sights of NYC (like the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Central Park, …) so I don’t want to bore you and list all of them, but want to give you some “insider tips”:

1. Top of the Rocks or Empire State Building?
Most people want to see NYC from above. Therefore they go on top of the Empire State Building or/and Rockefeller Center. So did I. But where to go at day and where at nighttime? Both are pretty awesome, but in my opinion you should enjoy the “Top of the Rock” view at daytime (and/or sunset) and Empire State Building at night. Why? Because Rockefeller Center is super close to Central Park, which looks really nice from above – and at nighttime all the lights look kind of the same anyway.

2. Half Price Musical Tickets
If you like musicals it’s probably on your to-do-list anyway, but you should watch a Broadway musical. If you are particular about what show you want to see (e.g. you only want to see Lion King) you should probably book your tickets in advance. But if you are more like “well, Lion King would be cool, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Sister Act, Rent, Wicked,… instead” you should get your tickets at the TKTS – Half Price Ticket Booths, which are located on Times Square, South Street Seaport and Downtown Brooklyn. The most convenient for tourists is probably the one at Times Square. They offer tickets to Broadway and Off Broadway musicals and plays up to 50% off – which means more money for shopping ;)

3. Statue of Liberty & Manhattan Skyline
Of course another must see is the Statue of Liberty. But if you aren’t really into architecture or sculptures, you might consider taking the free ferry to Staten Island and back instead of spending a lot of money on the one which takes you to Ellis Island. You have a really good view and can take great pictures from the free ferry – but consider that you won’t get super close. For me it was totally enough seeing the Statue from the free ferry.
Another tip: If you are on the way TO Staten Island, stay at the right side in the back of the ferry. Most of the people will probably run to the front – they’ll miss a great view of the Manhattan skyline. You can see the Statue as good from the back as you would from the front, and once the ferry moves you can go outside in the back – and will see this:

I wouldn’t want to miss it. On the way back do it the other way around – left side in the front, so you can see the Statue & the skyline again.

4. 9/11 Memorial
You can get tickets for free (and if you want to you can donate) here: http://www.911memorial.org/memorial
Make sure you book your tickets in advance. You can print them at home or pick them up at the self check-in at the memorial shop (if you want to put them in an album print them at the shop, they look way nicer, plus the shop is worth a visit as well) and don’t forget your ID – they’ll check it at the entrance.

5. Christmas in NYC
If possible – return to NYC in the wintertime. I’ve seen the city in December – and it’s like in the Christmas movies we all love so much – the big Christmas tree in front of Rockefeller Center & Ice Skating in Central Park - although it’s super expensive and smaller than expected totally worth the money! Look at the beautiful decorated shop windows of the big department stores and just be enchanted how different the city looks in the most wonderful time of the year.

Smoky Who?!

Hey guys.

So here I am, trying to write my first post for my new blog.
But what could I write about? Traveling? Books? Movies? Music? Politics? Going out? I’ll probably write about those things pretty soon - right now I'd like to tell you a little bit about the girl behind the nickname Smoky.

My name is Julia, but all my friends call me Smoky. No, I DO NOT smoke, I actually don't like the smell of cigarettes at all, but my last name means "Smoke" in English and that's why all my friends call me Smoky.
I am 21 years old and for me there’s no life without music. My family and friends are really important to me and I love going to the movies, going out, reading a good book and traveling – I just came back from a year abroad – but more about that later.

I’ve just started University – I study „TKK“ and I chose English and Russian as my foreign languages and would like to add Spanish in about a year. In order to get a good English grade I have to start blogging – and I decided to write about everything concerning the English language and culture, as well as my daily life - favorite quotes, books, movies, places to go – pretty much everything that might be interesting for you ;)