Merry Christmas

We would like to wish all our students a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!

Video Clips in English

Here's a really useful site that contains thousands of short videos. How Stuff Works!

It covers everything from history to entertainment, animals to science.

Let's go to the movies!

It can be difficult to watch a complete film in English - Why not start by watching some trailers? Here's one for the new Star Trek film -



The MTV website is a good resource for watching movie trailers in English - MTV Movies

IH Visit

Many thanks to all our students for their cooperation during the IHWO visit of Maurice Cassidy. Maurice had lots of positive things to say about the school and its students - so thank you all very much!

IH World Visit

The school is happy to welcome Maurice Cassidy from the IH London Executive Centre as our guest this week in Milan.

Maurice is here as part of our continuing commitment to providing all our clients and students with the best quality service.

He will be happy to speak to any of our teachers or students in order to get a better picture of IH Milan.

President-Elect Obama

On November 4 2008 history was made with the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States of America. Have you had a chance to listen to President-Elect Obama speak? Here's a clip of what he had to say on that historic night -

Mind-mapping

Tony Buzan created the Mind Map as a tool for memory and learning. It's a great way of organising new vocabulary.

Put a key concept in the middle of the page and then you build branches from this centre. Use of colour and images makes your Mind Map really memorable.

Watch Tony explain the thinking behind the Mind Map.







You can find out more information at Tony's site - Buzan World

testtest

test

Tour of Downing Street - Part 1

Why not practise your English and learn a little bit about British culture at the same time? Let historian Simon Schama take you on a tour of 10 Downing Street, the home of the British Prime Minister.

The language level is quite challenging!

Tour of Downing Street - part 2

Tour of Downing Street - Part 3

Tour of DowningStreet part 4

Learning by Moving

We recently attended a conference regarding our "Learning by Moving" project.

The Learning by Moving project, partly financed by the European Commission Socrates Lingua programme, has partners in seven countries, and we are trying to raise people's awareness of the importance of language learning.

Please visit the Learning by Moving website.

The conference was held in Vilnius, Lithuania. If you would like to see photos and PowerPoint slides from the event, go to the Soros International House website.

Simona Orlandi Poetry Competition

Last Friday we attended the prize-giving at the Simona Orlandi Poetry competition. International House sponsors the event and our director, Mrs Sieglinde Wolkan, gave out prizes for the English section.

Simona Orlandi passed away in 1991 at the age of 18. The Simona Orlandi association was set up by her friends and family to promote cultural and artisitc events in the local area.

The competition is held every year. If you would like to participate in the next competition, please contact the school for more information.

Please visit the Simona Orlandi website

What's the missing word? 2

What's for dinner?

Italians are rightly proud of their cuisine. Make sure you have the vocabulary to describe your wonderful food to foreign visitors and colleagues.

How good is your food vocabulary? Have a look at the links below - what do you think of the restaurants? - You may need a good dictionary to help you!

Study Tip - make a note of any new words (and their collocations) in your vocabulary books.

Indian Restaurant

Chinese Restaurant

Fish & Chips

English Pizzeria(!)

English Country Pub

What's the missing word?

Teachers' Club

Do you teach English at primary or secondary school level? Why not join our Teachers' Club?

Send your email address to dos.sandonato@ihmilano.it and we'll keep you up-to-date with offers and events for our Teachers' Club.

Diary of a DoS 1

It has been a busy week in school. Not only have we had full classrooms to deal with, but there have been lots of important football matches and birthdays to manage as well!

It was my own birthday last week (my best present? Ryan Giggs' 80th-minute goal for United!) Cultural differences are a recurring theme in an ex-pat's life - my birthday highlighted another cultural difference between Britain and Italy. In the UK, being the birthday boy is special - people send you cards and buy you presents and when you go out for dinner, well, everyone volunteers to pay for your food and drink! Birthdays, in Britain, are a great thing. I realised on Sunday that birthdays in Italy are different. When did this fact dawn on me? When the restaurant bill arrived.

As I started to calculate the individual costs of all my guests, my mathematics was met with the confused frowns of my Italian friends. "Well that's €20 each," I declared, reaching for my wallet. A few seconds later I realised I was the only one reaching for their wallet.

Apparently, in Italy, the birthday boy pays for the meal - for everybody's meal! I felt my birthday cheer disappear as I handed over all my cash to the waiter, much to the joy of my friends.

I think that next year I will celebrate my birthday back home in Manchester.

Listen to DoS Diary 1

Listen to DoS Diary 1

diary of a dos 1.mp3

Taking care of business 1

Some people say that the best things on TV these days are the adverts. But what were adverts like in England twenty years ago?

Have a look at a few below:




What do you think of these adverts?

Would they be effective today?

What do you think of the adverts we watch today?

This week's website - BBC

One of the best online resources for students of English is the BBC's Learning English site.

It's full of great activities - quizzes, games, articles, listening exercises and even the first ever soap opera for students of English!

Let us know what you think of the site.

Time Management

Everyone in business knows that time is money and that time is one of the most difficult things to manage!

It's difficult enough to get through your daily tasks without having your English teacher asking you why you haven't done your homework!

The Internet is a rich resource for learners of English. Recently, university lecturer, Randy Pausch, has become well-known for his good humour, despite fighting a battle against terminal cancer. You can watch a recent lecture (level-advanced) he gave on the subject of time management on his website: Randy Pausch.

You might just find some tips that will help you to be more efficient at work AND have time to do your homework!

Happy Summer Camp

Imparare l'inglese giocando!
“The Happy Summer Camp” è il centro estivo per bambini e ragazzi completamente in inglese.
E' organizzato presso la nostra scuola di San Donato Milanese nei mesi di giugno, luglio e settembre.
I bambini hanno la possibilità di familiarizzare con l'inglese in modo spontaneo, partecipando ad una varietà di giochi all'aperto, laboratori creativi e giornate a tema.
Sono accompagnati in questa avventura dai nostri insegnanti madrelingua, tutti qualificati e dotati di solida esperienza.
Sono aperte le iscrizioni al Summer Camp 2008!
Contatta 02 5279124 oppure info@ihmilano.it per maggiori informazioni.

SPECIAL SUMMER CAMP!
“The Happy Summer Camp” is a summer centre for children run exclusively in English.
It takes place at our San Donato premises in June, July and September.
The children have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with English in a spontaneous way by participating in various outdoor games, creative labs and theme-based days.
Our English mother-tongue teachers, all qualified and with vast experience, lead the children through this Summer adventure.