Dear colleagues and friends,

Welcome to the June issue of our E-newsletter dedicated to TEACHING SPEAKING.

Maybe some of our readers remember Amelia and Abigail Gabble from Disney’s “The Aristocats”, a pair of English geese trying to teach a cat how to swim, nearly drowning him in the process.

Are we as teachers attempting to do the impossible when we try to teach our students how to speak like the English? Or is it that even a cat would jump into the water if motivated properly?

We thank the teachers who tried to solve this dilemma by sending us their own ideas on how to bridge the river separating native and foreign languages.

Many thanks as well to all of you who took part in the Mcmillan quiz and to the English Book who sponsored it. In case our readers are interested, the English Book invites you to visit their web site www.englishsummers.com and learn about British Council accredited summer schools for English language learning in Great Britain that offer a wide range of courses and cater for all levels of English Language.

We also congratulate the winners of the following Mcmillan prizes:

1. Macmillan English Dictionary – Svetlana Gavrilovic
2. Blended learning by Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett, (Methodology Books for Teachers) – Biljana Dodic
3. Macmillan English Grammar in Context by Simon Clarke and Michael Vince – Maja Blagojevic

Thank you all for learning, sharing and playing with us,

Jelena Rakovic
on behalf of the Editorial Team

To the Editor

We would hereby like to thank all the contributors and encourage them, and all of you, to continue making our newsletter and magazine fantastic as it is!

You can take part, as well, and share your thoughts with us! Send us your comments and suggestions – here are some guidelines to help you:

1.What are your favourite sections of Newsletter / MELT and why?

2.What do you think about this issue?

3.Any further comments or ideas regarding Newsletter / MELT?

The editors are happy to receive all your suggestions and articles at melt@elta.org.rs

Read the guidelines and fill in the form.

A Word from the Editors
Why am I an editor?

A First-Time Conference Attendee
by Andrea Rac, Secondary Vocational School of Agriculture and Food Processing in Sombor
As a first-time conference attendee, I enjoyed the many talks, presentations, and workshops presented.
Read the whole article (MS Word 30KB)

Sharing One Language
by Maja Jerkovic, Secondary Medical School in Zrenjanin
Seminars and conferences become like a mental and physical work-out in a gym after being still for a long time. The 7th IATEFL ELTA International Annual Conference was the place where learning took place in every possible sense.
Read the whole article (MS Word 43KB)

Review of the 50^th Congress of Biomedical Science Students of Serbia
by Zorica Antic, Faculty of Medicine, University of Nis
The 50th Congress of biomedical science students of Serbia with international participation was held in Lepenski Vir from April 30th to May 4th 2009. It was organized by the Faculty of Medicine, University of Pristina – Kosovska Mitrovica that made a remarkable effort to organize the Congress in honour of its 50 years of existence.
Read the whole article (MS Word 41KB)

Learn to Teach English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) in beautiful downtown Sofia, Bulgaria!
Date: August 3 - 28, 2009
The Modern Institute is proud to offer the World Learning SIT Graduate Institute TESOL Certificate Course. Upon successful completion of the course, you will receive an internationally recognized certificate accredited by World Learning SIT Graduate Institute.

This summer, SIT TESOL course is offered to Serbian teachers with a special discount. For further information visit the website: http://www.themoderninstitute.eu/tesol-home-english.htm.

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SEETA Games
Date: 15th – 30th June
Networking games on the SEETA platform.

SEETA Week: 31st August - 6th September
In SEETA weeks, TA members hold informal discussions on a topic of their choice and share problems and solutions with the community.
Date: 31st August – 6th September
The assessment of speaking skills
Discussion led by Sotiria Koui.

Upcoming Forum
Date: 14th - 20th September 2009
Scott Thornbury - Teaching WITHOUT Technology

……..and much more at http://www.seeta.eu

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CHAIR UP!
by Jelena Rakovic, Secondary Vocational School of Agriculture and Food Processing in Sombor
Here is an interesting variation on the game of Musical Chairs with the aim of revising vocabulary related to peoples’ appearances and clothes.
Read the whole article (MS Word 87KB)

A Participant’s Choice
by Anica Djokic, Elementary School ’Sonja Marinkovic’, Novi Sad
Here are just a few practical activities ready to use in the classroom, collected at various workshops during the 7th ELTA Conference.
Read the whole article (MS Word 36KB)

Correction does Much, but Encouragement does More
by Katarina Ristanovic, Grammar school "Takovski ustanak" in Gornji Milanovac
Only when both students and teachers agree on the use of the same set of correction rules, the learning becomes more successful.
Read the whole article (MS Word 36KB)

Could I ask You a Question? - Asking and answering Questions in ELT
by Katarina Ristanovic, Grammar school "Takovski ustanak" in Gornji Milanovac
Have you ever wondered if this role of “the question asker” is reserved for the teachers only?
Read the whole article (MS Word 33KB)

Pronunciation
by Ivana Davidovic, Primary School 'Dr Dragisa Misovic', Cacak
I hope that you will find these exercises useful when dealing with pronouncation of specific words. Moreover, tasks can be beneficial for developing both speaking and writing language skills.
Read the whole article (MS Word 33KB)

Speaking Fun Activities – Tried and Tested!
by Tatjana Jancic, Secondary School of Economics and Trade in Vranje
Despite the widespread belief that our senior students have to do 'serious' things, they particularly enjoy 'silly' activities.
Read the whole article (MS Word 31KB)

Academic Writing for Engineering Graduates
by Jelisaveta Safranj and Marina Katic
Graduate students at Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad are offered an optional course of Academic Writing. A process-focused approach to writing is an enabling approach and its goal is to nurture the skills with which writers work out their own solution to the problem they set themselves.
Read the whole article (MS Word 56KB)

Macmillan Presentation
Find out more on new 'Inside Out', 'English World' and 'Destination B2' books.
Read the whole article (MS Word 1.56MB)

A Cute Apology
by Andrea Rac, Secondary Vocational School of Agriculture and Food Processing in Sombor
This is an apology card jotted down on a piece of paper and pasted on a large chocolate present that a teacher found at her desk one lazy school day afternoon…
Read the whole article (MS Word 25KB)

Miso Soup
by Marija Stojsic, Primary school 'Dobrosav Radosavljević–Narod' in Sremska Mitrovica
Miso soup is an easily-made macrobiotic meal rich in iron, fiber and proteins.
Read the whole article (MS Word 71KB)

Amusing Quotations
by Jelena Rakovic, Secondary Vocational School of Agriculture and Food Processing in Sombor
Take a look at these amusing quotations and see if there is a way to incorporate them into your classroom activities, either to break the ice and open with a joke, or to refresh your students’ attention after a demanding task.
Read the whole article (MS Word 34KB)