minats_zone

Wordle - My thoughts on May 19_09 : " "

Wordle - My Wiki site : " "

Hi there, These days I've been busy trying to catch up with all my subscriptions on ICT in ELT. Nick Peachy is so productive giving us some tips on using some widgets in ELT. Today I've attempted one which is called "Wordle" and it's real fun. You can select any text (e.g my last blog post on May 19) and represent it in a form of a picture showing the most frequent words you used in it. So have a look, if I managed to do everything accurately. Marina is going to set her wedding day today with her would be husband. So life is going on...Love and hugs.

Hi there, After my relaxing time in Vietnam, I've been very busy these days doing so many things - examining, classes, criss -crossing Moscow etc. I don't mind but the worst thing about it is that my car is out of order as a result of a minor accident (its left side is dented) but I can't start it as the alarm system has been affected and the engine is blocked. So I go on foot or by public transport. The insurance company promised to fix my car only within 1,5 months!!! It's rediculous as I paid a lot of money for nothing...Well, the good news is that Marina is feeling good, though she's going to have a baby in the early June, but still drives a car to work (school, where she's a teacher) and back to our dacha, where they live with Kostya for the time being. You can see her in a photo, in a church yard. She seems to be slim, but a big belly is not visible as she didn't want to show it. Meanwhile, the spring is in its prime. We can see threes blooming everywh...

Hey, Here I am in Moscow again. It's surprisingly bright, warm and sunny here in contrast to Vietnam, with very humid weather and pretty rainy days in Hanoi. First day of our arrival we stayed in Moscow to sort out our things then drove to the dacha, where Marina and her boyfriend (Kostya) now live in the old house. We were very curious about how they had settled down there as they moved in from a rented flat and arranged everything for themselves in this house. You know that Marina is due to give birth to a child in the early June so not so much time is left ahead. But the biggest surprise for me and Stanislav was their cat Dory, who is a 7 month old bred of bare skinned cats from St Petersburg. This kind of cats was started from the Egyptian sfinks cats brought to Russia some 10 years ago. He is somewhat ugly and extremely unusual. But Marina loves him very much as she has always loved exotic and bizzare creatures... All other people around (including Kostya nad Stanislav) don...

Hi, there, It was such a pity to say "Good Bye" to the fabulous Ha Long, but it's time to get back to business and here we are - in Hanoi staying in one of the most centrally located hotels "Daewoo". It is one of the best in the city (5 stars) but it impressed us more than other hotels in Vietnam because staff here are wearing Vietnamise national clothes and look very nice in the background of grand interior. Have a look and you can see what I mean. Stanislav is very busy every day having several arrangements to deal with. As for me, I can do my own things as there is his partner Mr Tahn who speaks Russian and helps out with everything. Hanoi is very busy, as usual, but full of life and good energy, which you can feel almost everywhere here. These miniature people enjoy their own unique culture due to the fact that they are not only extremely hard working and smart (at least many of them) but also seem to be smiling and really happy with what they have. Is this ...

Halong, Vietnam's world famous sight under the protection of UNESCO,is associated with ancient times and the battles between Vietnam and invaders. It is thought that the rocks all over the Bay are those brave Vietnamese soldiers who still protect the country. However, this beautiful story doesn't say much about what Halong is like. Now that I've spent almost 5 hours there on a special boat with Stanislav roaming across the Bay, I got a real touch of this breathtaking place with lots of rocks of every shape and size all over the Bay, misterious caves full of twisted passages and stalactites, fishing farms floating among the rocks, people and animals, shops and even a Bank of Vietnam on one of the farms, I must admit that HALONG is a truly world haritage which should be protected by all means. I'm running out of words trying to describe it here....Just have a look and catch the chemistry of it... On a boat, we had a delicious dinner prepared by two of our crew and got bac...

Our stay here seems to be getting better as the weather is really nice and we can enjoy our time fully. We've been to the city of Ha Long several times and taken some good shots there of people, shops, slums and some other interesting things. It is a public holiday (May 1st)and a lot of citizens from Hanoi have arrived to stay at the hotel with their families. The beach and the surroundings were overcrowded these days. So noisy and messy, we tried to escape from these places but on the following day everything appeared to be clean and tidy. The people here are really hard working and they don't leave much rubbish after themselves. Some funny shots we made in the city street where an old woman was sad but she got very happy after we gave her some money. Just look! And, of course, their amaizing furniture shops, live concerts and crocodile shows are unforgettable. Hope you can get the touch of this misterious country....

Well, our flight to Hanoi was smooth and uneventful, thanks God! Then we were driven to Ho Long, which is 300 km further to the North of Hanoi. It's a unique place where numerous rocks and rocky formations are scattered across the Ho Long Bay. The place itself is considered the 8th Wonder of Nature and is, therefore, protected by UNESCO. We're staying in a local resort owned by Malasian company ("Holoday Villa"'s chain). We have our own beach and swimming pool and almost nobody around as it's not the top season. The weather was good for the first 2 days but now it's raining endlessly and the sky is heavy. We hope it'll change soon, otherwise there is little if anything to do. We took some nice pics as there are beauty spots all around here (not in the bay, but around the hotel, we're planning to go there soon). Love you and hope to hear from you soon....

Gmail - Minats ICT for ELT Weekly Digest - minats09@gmail.com This is my WIKI site which I have been using for a while (since March to post and receive online tests) Welcome!!!

Well, the Big Easter Day is over and many other busy days in April are over, too. It's extremly chilly for April in Moscow and though it's sunny, the air is very cold and winds are harsh. We've started getting ready for flying to Hanoi (25th April) and now are packing the cases. I've enrolled for quite a large number of ESOL exams in May-June and even for a couple of off - site sessions in Krasnodar and Saratov. Now that classes at HSE have finished, I can look back on the time I spent teaching there and say that it was somewhat productive for me as I learned a few good things from both my students (IT) and the new environment. So thanks God everything has been going smoothly. Have a look at some funny shots I've made at dacha and in Moscow these days. I'm looking forward to obtaining USA visa in May-June and going to see Olia in SF in summer. Hope things will work out for us.... Love you all and hug you...