Shakespeare’s Globe

Seeing a play at the Globe you will be enjoying not only the London of the present but also the London of the past. Being a member of the audience at a Shakespeare play is like being the witness of a piece of English history, language, literature and culture. Everything is the Globe, the costumes, special visual and sound effects, the music and the musical instruments are all reliable replicas of the 15th century originals.

The current theatre is close to its original Bankside, Southwark location, where the Globe was first erected in 1599. It was built of timber, lath and plaster and with a thatched roof which made all theatres and houses of the time vulnerable to fire. And that was what actually happened to the Globe - twice, in 1613 and 1621, when it was consumed by fire. It was co-owned by J. Burbage, one of the most important theatre entrepreneurs of the time, and a group of actors, Shakespeare being one of them. The Globe was officially closed in 1644. Reconstructed in 1997, the new building is as faithful a replica as it ispossible to be. It’s a beautiful characteristic example of Elizabethan playhouses and the best place to enjoy some of the masterpieces of the best Elizabethan playwrite, if not the best playwrite of all times.

The price of the tickets varies between five pounds for standing (the poorest citizens of London back in the 15th century paid one penny for standing right in front of the stage) to twenty-five pounds for the balconies – the wonderfully decorated private boxes being a bit more expensive.

Even if you are not considering seeing a play, the building is worth a visit, and there are daily guided tours which are not at all expensive.

Every summer, different plays by Shakespeare are performed. This summer season you can enjoy: “The Merry Wives of Windsor”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “King Lear”.

These last two plays are two good examples, which will give you a general appreciation of Shakespeare’s work. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a witty mixture of romance, fairy magic and comic scenes from the gutter, while “King Lear” is a touching tragedy which deals with family betrayal and the downfall of a hero. “King Lear” is regarded as one of Shakespeare’s supreme achievements and is particularly noted for its probing observation on the nature of human suffering and kinship. The actor playing King Lear’s role has been repeatedly praised by critics for his strength and conviction, but the truth is that every single actor and actress in the play, from the leading to the supporting ones, do a spectacular job.

Even before the play has started, the member of the audience is transported to another age, the age of Shakespeare, with jesters and little musicians mixing with the audience in the yard, playing and welcoming the audience to a unique experience of history, art and literature. From the first minute to the last, watching a Shakespeare’s play in the Globe is breathtaking.

Without a shadow of doubt, the Globe is a must-see in London and any self-respecting visitor owes it a visit.

Fatima

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Life in London

Life in London is short for all of us Malvern House students. It doesn’t matter where you are from, studying in London is probably the only chance in our lifetime that we may have to soak up the mix of modern and historical cultures of the metropolitan city.
Without doubt the cost of living in London is way too expensive, but the good news is there are so many free events and you don’t need to tighten your belt to participate. Below is a list of some free events which are being held in August.

• Theatre Royal Comedy night – 04/08 and 11/08
• Introduction to the London Library – until 27/09
• Chorinho – clubs: freestyle and global beats – 04/08 and 11/08
• Blood Wedding – theatre: West End – 31/07~07/09
• Petrite Rough – A Cajun Red Riding Hood (Theatre: West End) – 13/08~07/09
• Live music café and English conversation – 26/08 and 30/08
• Notting Hill Carnival – 24/08~25/08

London, the city of musicals
A musical is a unique performance which includes music, songs, spoken dialogue dance, drama, stage setting, lighting effects and even stunts. No matter what performance you prefer you may find the musicals suit your appetite.
“Les Miserables” and “The phantom of the opera” are the must-see musicals; one is based on the novel “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo, a great epic. And one is the greatest love story in the west end. The music of both are excellent - they are too good to miss.
For anyone who has seen the films “The Lord of the Rings”, you must have been astonished by the marvelous computer visual effects. But how can the stage setting create the same stunning scenes? It remains to be seen whether the stage effects can compete with computer effects.
“The Lion King” is not just a musical for kids. Elton John’s music, the stage setting and costume bring all the audience into tropical Africa for an adventure of the animal worlds.
If you like dancing then you must love watching “Billy Elliot” and “Chicago”. The plot of “Billy Elliot” is rather simple: there is a little boy who loves dancing and tries to enroll for a dancing school. But the emotion and relationship among all the characters is so touching that a macho guy who sat next to me was weeping on the audience’s seat. The music was also made by Elton John.
The musical ticket is expensive, but you can always find the half price tickets at Leicester Square. It won’t hurt if you just go to theatre box offices and ask if there is any discount for students or concessions. Many theaters release half – price tickets one hour before the performance. Recently, there have been “two for one offer” promotions for West End shows, you can purchase one ticket and get another one free. Please check on the website:
Http://www.tfl.gov.uk/microsites/oysteroffers/WestEndShows/

Irene Wang

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ASTEROIDS: DANGER OR RESOURCE?

According to experts’ calculations, an asteroid called Apophis could crash into the Earth on the Easter Sunday of 2036. This grim prediction has created anxieties in the world of astronomy; in fact Russel Schweickart, the esteemed ex astronaut of Apollo 9 has asked the UN to widen the case in order to be prepared and avoid a disaster.
In 2029 the asteroid will pass very close to our planet so that we will be able to see it with the naked eye. Actually, the probabilities that Apophis will have an impact with the Earth are not very high, but we can’t discard the eventuality as in some previous cases.
The asteroid is 390 metres of diameter, less than the one which 65 million years ago crashed into the planet causing the death of the overwhelming majority of species and the extinction of the dinosaurs. The point is that, if it collided with Earth. it would cause a catastrophe and a high number of victims.
There is some interesting theoretical research about the possible ways to avoid the impact, for example that of the gravitational tractor, which consists of launching a space ship near the asteroid and hooking it up, exploiting the ship’s gravity, then moving the space ship in order to tow the asteroid and move it to another orbit.
However, not all the scientists are worried about asteroids. On the contrary, some of them think that they are a precious resource because they are full of minerals. Nasa itself is already thinking of organising a mission on an asteroid to extract minerals.

Susanna Preziati

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China could reach the Moon

China has been working on its space programme since the 1970’s, but in 2003 it became the third country to launch a person into orbit. The US is planning another manned trip to the Moon in 2020 and they think China could arrive before them.

In his declaration, Dr Michael Griffin, director of Nasa, declared that: ‘I think we can collaborate rather than quarrel’ and reminded listeners that the International Space Station began with the cooperation between USA and USSR in 1975 in the middle of the Cold War

Carlos Mingo Roman

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Clone your Oyster Card

Dutch researchers are about to publish how they’ve cloned smartcards (used to gain access to government buildings, schools…) and Oyster Cards.
The publication will include all kinds of details, including the algorithm you may need for it.
The Dutch government and NPX (which makes the technology for smartcards) have complained about this publication but a court in Holland has overturned the injunction.
The real aim of the article is not to teach how to get free tube trips, but to try to improve security in smartcards.

Carlos Mingo Roman

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Transplant

The human body rejection of animal parts as transplants is not a problem anymore. Scientists have found a way to overcome this problem. Human organs for transplant are in great demand and it means that patients must wait a long time to get them.

Recently scientists have found a way to use animal tissue such as blood, vessels and tendons as transplants because earlier it was impossible due to the human's body rejection of them.
For example, the heart of a pig transplanted to a human body won't guarantee a long life for a patient because it is too inert and won’t be able to be repaired. But scientists have managed to resolve the problem. They combined freezing, chemical baths and ultrasound to strip the animal tissue of the cells and block the body's response(or rejection) that occurs in the immune system.

It is a really great innovation that has only recently been developed in medicine. A lot of time is needed to achieve high levels of using this method and to introduce it in common transplant surgery. However the first step has already been taken and now it requires further investigation.

Leyla Akhundova

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Summer, what’s up guys?

Although you won’t believe me, there’s a scientific theory called Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) which explains why people are happier in summer than in winter time. Have you heard about it? Ok, I’ll tell you what it is. According to the experts more than 80% of us are likely to choose hot places to go on holiday.
How does it work?
Our seasonal mood is easily affected by external factors; mainly the ones that are related to light, which goes directly into the receptors (skin, hair, eyes). These turn the information given into energy. This goes up to the brain and starts acceleration in the process of communication between brain cells/ As a result of that the cells develop more efficiency and the ability to perform mentally and physically.
Can any kind of light improve our mood?
In fact, there is only a specific wave frequency that can be caught by the receptors, which is irradiated by the sun and candles, although there are some products in the market, such as, “The Happy Lamp” which is a creation that is supposed to have the same effect as the Sun, and has been made to help depressed people in winter time.
In a nut shell…
Well guys, don’t panic if you already feel bored and depressed. Try to light some candles and be happy.
Please take note of this!
Our brain works with thousands of nerve impulses. These are closely connected to a plethora of internal and external facts; We have in our inner body organs, hormones, genes, cells, that define our personality and behaviour. Therefore saying that our mood is only dictated by one agent (such as the weather), is nothing more than a big lie!



* free from storm or wind
* filled or abounding with fog or mist; 'a brumous October morning'
* lacking definite form or limits 'nebulous distinction between pride and conceit'
* affected or characterized by storms or commotion
* bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer
* free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet
* not hot not cold but in the middle
* a state of coldness
* abounding in or exposed to the wind or breezes

Jisney Paola Moreno Roman

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Interview - Owen Flatley

• FORCE ENGLISH PEOPLE TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOU
• DON’T TAKE YOURSELF SERIOUSLY
‘The Study Guide Interview With’ starts with Owen, teaching an advanced class (8-11am) and a writing module class (11-12am) daily. Owen teaches the editor’s class and started teaching English 4 years ago. He has been teaching at Malvern House for 11 months. Now let’s listen to his story and his special tips on studying English effectively.
(E: Editor, O: Owen)

E: Why did you choose to teach foreign students?
O: I find it extremely exciting, experiencing so many different cultures in a small place, learning more about people who have different experiences and concepts from all around the world. And also I love English and I love being able to pass a little bit of my knowledge on… And it gives me great pleasure to hear extremely good spoken and written work from my students.

E: And you can learn how to say ‘close the door’ in lots of different languages?
O: Yeah.(laugh)

E: What do you think of Malvern House students? What’s your impression of them?
O: I think they’re very ambitious…can be extremely hard-working, can be slightly lazy. But otherwise, they’re very receptive to new ideas and quite easy to engage in teaching so that I can enjoy teaching.

E: You are the one who suggested the publication of this Malvern House magazine. What was your motivation?
O: The motivation was to establish a form of communication in which students could demonstrate, not only to any other people but also to themselves, the progress they’re making, the language they’re learning and the new levels of their communicative abilities. So the motivation was to find a method that really motivates students and actually gives them the opportunity to really use their languages for a purpose. It’s more a stage of communication, I think, communication with the real world.

E: Do you have some special expectations for this magazine, for example, what do you want this magazine to be and continue like?
O: I don’t care what it turns out to be like as long as the students involved are interested in what they’re writing about and the magazine shows a good quality of literacy. Hopefully, this will become the students’ independent thing and in the end I won’t have much to do with it, because it will be a student-led magazine.


OWEN’S TIPS ON STUDY
• READ A LOT. Read everything you can get your hands on. Everything, anything. Fire escape notices, magazines, signs on the train, anything.

• FORCE ENGLISH PEOPLE TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOU. Make them interested in you. Just talk to them. Find mutual understanding and share interests. ‘I’ll get another person to write a guide how to make English friends’ he says.

• TRY TO AVOID JOBS IN PLACES WHERE LITTLE ENGLISH IS SPOKEN. Try to get into an English-involved environment for as long as possible.

• LISTEN TO THE RADIO EVERY DAY. Just a short little snippet like 1 min radio. Play it again to yourself until you understand.

• KEEP REVISING. Keep looking at words everyday and revising them. Keep trying to use them in as many contexts and situations as you can.

E: Finally, are there any final thoughts you’d like to mention?
O: The most important thing in learning a language is not to take yourself seriously. Be happy and comfortable with making mistakes. Don’t be stressed and be happy to make yourself learn English.

Ji-hye Park

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Note: Please e-mail us your own tips on study or contact us at studentmagazine@ymail.com to let us hear your study ideas and deliver your valuable tips to many students thirsty for English. Any students and teachers are welcome.

Umbrella

Fat drops of rain on the window in front of me, violent splashes of cold water, hints of a far away autumn, whispers of my birthday, leafy paths, chilly air, icy nights, long sleeves, fireplaces... London’s summer!
A fading memory of white skirts blurring at the back of my mind, melting with the vivid green of a garden in full bloom, insects buzzing, honeysuckle, lavender, mint, wisteria. It’s fading: an image lazing in a back drawer; rain can be magical, sunshine far less.

I can see people beneath me, a herd of colourful umbrellas, bright islands in the dark of the tarmac: some stand out, some are plain, dull. Playing the role of an obsessive psychoanalyst, one could argue they mirror the personality of the person they cover.
I happen to be content to sit and look at them mixing up together, leaving my mind free to wander about the people under their waterproof veil: lives, thoughts, houses, ambitions, regrets, personal data, Oyster cards, feelings, mortgages...
Some might call it killing time, as you might do at the airport waiting for your flight and trying to guess bystanders’ destinations, to figure out what exotic reason lies behind their travelling. I used to like to call it a hobby... a luxurious hobby, considering how important filling any second of our waking time has become: time is definitely not to be killed.

Lost in this “activity”, your eyes sometimes meet a total stranger’s; in a split second, you can catch a glimpse of each other’s souls. It might sound like New Age junk, but I suppose you can think of human beings as being surrounded by an invisible circle, which assembles, obviously ideally, every person each of us has a relationship with, from the faintest to the strongest. Two people catching each other’s gaze, looking into each other’s eyes, make their circle intersect, intertwined forever, oblivious nevertheless.
People I’ll never meet again, people who might become important, people who’ve come to stay, people who are staying on one side, waiting for me to make them relevant.

Busy with people’s circles, I’m not aware of the rooftops staring at me, and firm on layers of steady bricks, which impassively bear the weight of the water. Chimneys, however, seem to be tickling clouds away, a feeble attempt to free themselves from that soaking burden.
Apparently unnoticed, the wind starts blowing a little more strongly... is it coming to help the chimneys and rooftops in their struggle?
I catch myself conceiving a sort of epic conflict, which opposes clouds and rooftops, the wind apparently allied to the latter, trees seemingly neutral...

I wake up from daydreaming.

Clizia Motterle

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Some rude English behaviour

The truth is that four months are not time enough to know a city and its inhabitants, I am conscious of that, but anyway I would like to tell this story and hope the penny drops. This story is about how saying sorry can turn out to be poor form.
I don’t want to sound pedantic or come across like a patriotic, small-minded foreigner. The truth is that I hate generalizations and, even so, I am writing these words – I suppose we can’t help falling into the trap of betraying our intentions sometimes, like the child who takes over his father’s way of closing up when talking about emotions, even if he has hated it throughout his childhood. The thing is that I’ve experienced rudeness in the country where people pride themselves on being polite.
In the past, all my teachers of English use to bang on for hours about how polite English people are; “They always take care not to forget their p’s and q’s”, they said. When I learnt I was coming to study in London I was worried because, to be honest, I blaspheme sometimes (only, of course, when the situation is unequivocally deserving of my anger,) as for example when I’m having a ghastly day or my morale is at a low ebb. But soon after my arrival, I began to realize that English people’s politeness is a funny one, rather tricky I would say, but not necessarily better or worse than any other country’s politeness. In England, politeness is a matter of “saying” not “doing” (and with “saying I mean its literal meaning) and thus language becomes a tool for them. A tool to show the emotions, good and bad ones, they do not show with their bodies – these remain stiff like their stiff upper-lip. In England, the language differentiates two who are rich from those who are poor, it differentiates cities, boroughs and I wouldn’t be surprised if it also differentiates streets! I can be used to order the most awkward and unfair things in the most nice, delicate and polite ways. All these things are normal, and we could even say that they happen in every single language, but what strikes me the most is how empty the word “sorry” proves to be sometimes.
In London everybody says “sorry” and “excuse me” (in this I can verify they never forget their p’s and q’s) if they accidentally hit you on the tube or one the street, which is rather polite really but, do they really mean it? Soon I discovered that few do. Londoners don’t usually look at the other person’s eyes when they apologize outdoors, they simply keep on walking. What is more, it is unbelievable how many times people hit me in a day. Twenty times? More? They always say “sorry”, but only five out of twenty continue saying “are you ok? I didn’t want to hit you. Sorry for having dragged your bag or pushing you for five meters”, or something like that. Am I allowed (or is it less crass) to sneeze on your face if I’ve got the sniffles, if next I say an empty “sorry”? Can I do it twenty times a day without reprisals?
On my first month here I usually made light of this, but now it is starting to get on my nerves. Wouldn’t it be easier to calm down and stop rushing and hitting people?
What I really deplore is when I collide head-on with someone one the streets, train station, in a shop or supermarket and after some moments of struggling, moving right and left simultaneously, my opponent mumbles “shit! Get out of… (intelligible)”. He puts on his rugby helmet and charges at me, bending his shoulders and leaving me trashed behind him, with a face of “this is not true, this can’t be happening”. These are the moments when I really miss my f’s and u’s’ and, as I’ve found out recently, the catalyst of my anger.
I know I am being a bit cantankerous, and by now you will have already taken me for a misanthropist, but I am not, or at least I’ve never been…. God! Now I am not only a misanthropist but also presumptuous! Ok, I promise I will reflect on these little vices of mine if you agree to have a clearway with me about your social manners. And the truth is that I really commiserate with you, Londoner, since living in such a big city is not plain sailing. I suppose this is one of the consequences which are tied into living in a crowded metropolis; being always in a hurry, crowded trains, crowded streets, crowded shops, foreigners everywhere who don’t know where to go and stop out of the blue in the middle of the pavement, platform or undergrounds’ corridor. Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I think I would probably become tired of it after some months. I am not trying to win you over, you know, what for? I am going back to my country soon after all.
From my stay in London I will bring with me to my country, some bad anecdotes like this aside, great memories and many friends, some British among them. Except for those who were crass to me, many other people usually made my day by smiling back at me on the supermarket queue or when I let them away, or by voicing their feeling when they liked my shoes, scarf or sunglasses. Those moments brought a big smile to my face then, now and always.

Fatima Guerra Garcia

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Jokes

Survey
In 2006, the UN made an international survey about problems with the world’s food supply. They asked 2000 people from all over the world the following question:
“Please give me your honest opinion about the solution to the food shortage in the rest of the world”.
The survey was a complete failure.
In Western Europe, people didn’t understand the word “shortage”. In Eastern Europe, they didn’t know the meaning of “honest”. In the Middle East, no one understood the word “solution”. In Africa, they didn’t know what “food” was. In China, they didn’t understand the word “opinion”, and in the USA people had no idea what “the rest of the world” meant.


Paradise and Hell
What does paradise look like?
Paradise is organised by the Swiss. The lovers are Italian. The French are the cooks and the Germans are the engineers. The jokes come from the English.
Now, what does hell look like?
Hell is organised by the Italians. The English are the cooks. The jokes come from the Germans. The French are the engineers and the Swiss are the lovers.

Lukas Voellmy

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