ib review gliwice 2015

IB vs. Polish Edu. SystemGap Year

Extended EsseyI Cam’t Change

Florence And The Machine

Comenius MettingLiving a Life that MattersThe Dancing GlobetrotterCambridge University InterviewParent’s View of Growing UP

ZSO NR 10 /// School Magazine /// IB School No. 006264 since 2010 /// ISSN 2353-0642 /// No. 1/2015

“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”Marian Wright Edelman

The main theme of this year’s IB Review edition is ‘OPEN YOUR MIND’. It strikes a chord with one of my favorite anecdotes. During a visit to the NASA space center in 1962, President J.F. Kennedy noticed a ja-nitor carrying a broom. He interrupted his tour, walked over to the man and said, “Hi, I’m Jack Kennedy. What are you doing?” The janitor responded: “I’m helping put a man on the moon, Mr. President.” Obviously, the janitor understood the importance of his involvement. He truly felt he was a valuable part of something bigger than himself, and his open-minded attitude created a feeling of self-confidence in his mission. He was not just a janitor, he was a member of the 1962 NASA Space Team! It is so easy to become caught up in our ordinary, unimaginative li-ves. To believe that our apparently endless repetitive actions are meaningless rambling pieces.

To be so exhausted from the routine of “right now,” that we’re unable to see that our efforts have long term consequences. It makes no difference what “small tasks” you set for yourself today. Your life has purpose bey-ond walking the dog, preparing breakfast, studying for a test, and watching television.You have lives to impact, people to inspire, questions to answer, goals to achieve, a de-stiny to fulfill and the world to change. You can look at today as a another throw-a-way

unimportant waste of trivial activity OR you can decide to be part of something bigger than yourself — a project that reaches far into the future and impacts people you may ne-ver meet.

You can choose to sweep the floor . . . or be part of the space mission putting a man on the moon.

You can cram for a test . . . or acquire life--long knowledge you can apply years after graduation.

You can teach a class . . . or impact the next generation.

Assign kids to practice . . . or create oppor-tunities for young people to excel.

Write for a school gazette . . . or have an effect on the lives of others.

Segregate the garbage . . . or save the planet from choking.

What are you going to do today? Why not help to make a difference?Whatever you are, be a good one!

“Life is a series of steps. Things are done gradually. Once in a while there is a giant step, but most of the time we are taking small, insignificant steps on the stairway of life.”Ralph Ransom

The Editors

2 /// IB Review

ContentsOUR SCHOOL: • Why IB? • My Internship at ZSO 10 • Micro Stories • Cooperation with School Implemeting IBDP in Russia • The Trip to Saint Petersburg

WORLD: • The Man who Walked • Kick Off of a Brand-New Entrepreneurship • Learning English in English-Speaking Countries • Studying Across the World • Think Twice Before You Go to China • The American Dream

CULTURE: • Why do We Listen to Music? • Pop Culture Takeover by Stormers • A Man of Many Faces • The Chaos • Fun Reflection Inspiration

LIFESTYLE: • In Search of Lost Time • From España to Polonia • It’s Never to Late to Try • Is it a Shame to Call Yourself a Feminist? • Scientific Life Hacks • Because it’s Cool to Give • Studying Less, Knowing More

IB Review /// 3

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Why IB?In this article I would like to describe the value of the IB program as an alternative to the Polish Matura. I spent 20 years in Poland as a teacher, and my own daughter studied IB and is now studying at a British University.

For students, the IB offers the following:

-Everything (except Polish) is taught in En-glish. You will learn to write and speak good English,-You will be rewarded and given marks for your thinking, organizational skills and per-severance, and not just for your ability to memorize information,-The IB is a passport to good overseas uni-versities, and to an interesting job,-You will learn to think for yourself, and in-dependently,-If you are good enough to pass the entran-ce exam to the excellent Gliwice school, you will be good enough to graduate. You have the option of taking individual exams again.

For parents, the IB offers an alternative to the Polish matura. Although books and exams are expensive, tuition is free, and the IB sho-uld be seen as an investment in the child’s future. Your child will need a quiet place to work – there is more work to be done at home than for the matura.

The IB is respected by the employers. For employers: -an employee with the IB (with or without a university degree),-Can speak and write excellent English. They have spent 2 years in an English-speaking classroom,-Can think independently,-Know how to investigate a problem and get to the bottom of it,-Have excellent research skills. They know how to look for information,-They can organize their work, and know how to persevere with an assignment,-They can meet deadlines.

The Gliwice school, in addition to producing excellent IB results, offers students and pa-rents the following: a very accessible, human

and flexible Director, Mr Koltun, who will al-ways try to solve individual problems. It has a world-class history teacher, Dr Dutka, it has native-speaker teachers, and the School Director has the full support of the town hall.What can go wrong when studying the IB? In my experience, the only students who fail are those who do not take their assignments seriously, and do not meet deadlines. They have not understood that being organized and persevering are key parts of the IB.

How can the IB be summarized as a prepa-ration for the real world of work? Firstly, in a responsible job, memorization of facts is less important than research skills and inde-pendent thinking. The IB prepares for that. An employer will want managers and em-ployees to be able to work on their own. IB prepares for that. In the real world, perse-verance and ability to solve problems is more important than a brilliant mind, and the IB prepares for that, too.

If you are a prospective student, or parent, or employer, and you are interested in the above, I suggest you make some more enquires into the IB, and consider it as a se-rious option.

Alistair Maclean(Teacher of the IB Program at Gliwice LO1

for 2 years at the beginning of the Program)

4 /// Our School /// IB Review

MY INTERNSHIP at

ZSO10“One’s destination is never a place, but a

new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

My name is Maike Spalthoff and I am a Ger-man student of the University of Paderborn. Last school year I got the chance to complete an internship at Zespol Szkol Ogólnoksztalca-cych nr 10. I spent four weeks at your school as a teacher trainee and got to know the Polish school system and especially the IB Program. It was a really interesting and exciting time in which I learned a lot; not only about Polish schools, but also about your country, your food, your language and your people. For the first time I spent more than one month in Poland. Even though my Polish is limited to the basics, I took the chance to visit your country. I love travelling and exploring new co-untries, cultures and people. During my school time in Germany I already took part in a couple of student exchange programs to France, En-gland and the United States. After I had finished school, I left Germany to spend thirteen months in the US. It was an unforgettable time in which I have become wiser and more open-minded. Soon I made up my mind and decided to com-bine my two passions and become a teacher of English and Physical Education. Teaching is a way for me to pass on my passion to the stu-dents, arouse their interest in different cultures and countries, make them understand difficult issues and broaden their horizons. I thought it would be interesting to explore the European countries a little bit more and get to know dif-ferent school systems around the world. In my opinion, it is important for future teachers to become acquainted with different styles of te-aching and different kinds of students. In this way, I have the chance to develop my teaching skills, become more comfortable in front of my students and bring in new ideas into German schools. First of all, I have enjoyed the IB Pro-gram a lot and I hope to find a school where I can teach similar classes in the future. In con-trast to regular German classes, the students

in the IB classes have a great environment to learn foreign languages. In Germany you typi-cally find classes with 30 or more students; no matter which subject is taught. This not only makes it difficult for the teachers to teach pro-ficiently, but also difficult for the students to learn efficiently. Furthermore, we do not often have native speakers or a division into skills in our language classes. In my opinion, it is a great way to learn a language and it can sup-port the learning process a lot. Another diffe-rence is that German schools are divided into three different school systems. Students are assigned to the different schools depending on their school marks and interests. Two of them are for those students who want to start a vo-cational education, they graduate after nine or ten years. The third system is for those who aim for a university education; they graduate after twelve years. However, without the Ger-man Abitur (comparable to the English A-le-vels), which you achieve after twelve years of school, it is becoming more and more difficult to get the job of your choice. In your IB classes you get well prepared for studies abroad or an international career so use this opportunity and travel the world. As Saint Augustine said: ‘The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.’ It will broaden your horizons and offer you unforgettable experiences. My overall impression of your school is a really positive one. I took home a lot of good memories thanks to your great teachers, who made this extraordinary time possible and of course thanks to the great students who gave me a warm welcome. They were always moti-vated, gave me feedback after my lessons and told me many things about places I should visit and about traditional Polish food. I even deve-loped my Polish skills, hence, I no longer need a translator to order barszcz and pierogies. Pol-ska to wspanialy kraj.

Maike Spalthoff

IB Review /// Our School /// 5

In Search of Lost Time

When I started my high school education, the first thing I noticed was that I didn’t have enough time for anything I used to do in pre-vious years. I spent lots of time at school, and when I came home, I barely had time for anything. The other thing that bothered me was that I could not prepare for anything in a given period of time – no matter how much time I had, I would always do all of my assignments the night before they were due. That was the system I got used to in my secondary school. I used to be a good student and I had good grades even without studying at home. Despite that with every new semester I noticed that things got out of my control. The range of material incre-ased drastically, the teachers started giving me twice as many assignments to do. That was the moment I realised that I was in big trouble. In the past I used to think that I had so much work to do that I didn’t have time for anything else. One day, I sat down and analysed how much time I actually spent on different activities during the day. The result was shocking - the activity I used to devote the least amount of time to was studying. In fact, I spent most of my time avoiding stu-dying by doing other things. That is a chil-dish manner of making yourself busy to avo-id feeling guilty about not doing your work. Surprisingly, lots of people struggle with that problem. It took me a lot of time and effort to break that habit of wasting my time. Month by month, with lots of effort, I be-gan to change my behaviour. It was difficult, but every week brought more improvement. After a few months I noticed that I was able to work effectively, my grades improved, and I still had some free time for myself.

If you have similar problems, follow some simple advice below:

If you have to study, turn your computer off. This applies to your phone, too! In gene-ral, get rid of everything that distracts you. Distraction makes your studying less effec-

tive and cuts down your time significantly.

Get organised! Buy a pocket calendar, or do-wnload an app on your phone. It is important to have everything scheduled. You may for-get something, but your calendar won’t!

Find a hobby. Everyone has to relax after work, so find something that interests you. It can be anything – sports, books, knitting – whatever you like. It will help you mana-ge your time and motivate you to work. But there is one rule: duties first!

Organise your workplace. Clean your room, sort out your papers. A well-organised desk-top will help you focus on your tasks.

Exercise! The best way to keep your mind sharp is to get your body moving every day. After a few days you will feel more relaxed and both your physical and mental condition will improve.

Later, you will figure out what works for you and what doesn’t, what parts of your lifestyle can be improved. If the above advice helped you a little bit to manage your time properly share it with a friend and enjoy your new, well-organised lifestyle!

Krzysztof Wozniak

6 /// Lifestyle /// IB Review

FromEspaña

toPolonia

Poland in the eyes of a Spanish Transfer Student Antonio Perez Lillo

Q: Was it difficult for you to adjust to the new reality in Poland? Did anyone help you?

A: Of course it was extremely difficult for me to get used to new reality, especially that I am a very sensitive person, who easily atta-ches to people and environment, so it was hard to leave Spain. Additionally, I was very stressed out before going to the new school for the first time. I felt really alone because I didn’t know anybody from my new class and the fact that I didn’t understand Polish made it even worse. Fortunately, people from Gliwice are very kind and helpful. My peers and teachers were often asking me about my frame of mind and it seemed to me like I was right in the centre of people’s attention. To be honest, only some of them turned out to be truly frank and willing to get closer to me. I mean my best friends Hania and Mar-tina and several teachers, especially Mr. Flo-wer and Mr. Koltun.

Q: Is moving to another country a new expe-rience for you? A: Yes, it is - anything new is a new expe-rience at first. The thing is that when I had to move to another country as a child, it wasn’t so difficult because the only thing, I needed was a ball to play football. Now I am more mature and I want to begin to shape my own life, so it is very annoying for me when sud-denly I need to change it all over again.

Q: Are there any specific qualities in Polish people which you like the most? Probably there are also things you don’t like in us, what is it?

A: To be honest before coming to Poland, I was sure that people here are more serious and they don’t laugh a lot. And I think it was the biggest surprise for me, but very positive of course. There is one thing which seems to me very disturbing. Of course this is not a general rule, but many people try to contact me only because of the fact my father is famous and I really don’t like it.

Q: What do you think of our school? Do you have any previous encounters with IB? A: I think that our school is really a very good one thanks to the high level of education. In my opinion the knowledge of foreign langu-ages is very important nowadays, so it’s a very positive aspect of the school to offer a possibility to learn them on such a big scale. Additionally, thanks to this, I can communi-cate with other people because they speak English or even Spanish, so I am not exc-luded from the society. I wasn’t a member of IB course earlier, so it is challenging for me to cope with it now.

Q: You didn’t come to Poland alone. As far as I know you found yourself in our school pretty well, how about other members of your family? Do they enjoy living in Poland?

A: My parents are very glad that we came to Poland. Especially my father because he has an opportunity to work as a coach and it is a kind of challenge for him. My brother spends

IB Review /// Lifestyle /// 7

the majority of his time at the Silesian Uni-versity. In our free time, we do sightseeing, go to shopping centres, play sports and ge-nerally enjoy being in Poland. Q: How much does Gliwice differ from the city where you lived in Spain? What do you find better in Gliwice and what do you think is better in Spain? A: There are 3 basic differences between Spain and Poland: the climate, the langu-age and the women! It is hard for me to cope with this kind of weather because I am not used to low temperatures, so I find it de-finitely worse than in my country. The same is with language because Polish is for me exactly like Chinese, that’s why sometimes I really can’t communicate with other people. But there is one very positive aspect of living here – Polish women with their extraordi-nary and unusual beauty!

Q: When you talk with your Spanish friends what do they ask about in relation to Po-land? Are they curious about how we live and how you found yourself in this new re-ality?

A: Yes, of course, we are in touch all the time, we chat on Facebook or talk by Skype and they always ask me about everything, which is connected with Poland, because they really know how difficult it is to find yourself in the new reality. They are curio-us to know how my school is, what the weather in Poland is, how my relationships with friends from Gliwice are and of course how my football is progressing.

Q: You trained football both in Spain and now in Poland. What are the biggest diffe-rences you’ve already noticed? Is it more challenging here or in your homeland?

A: The biggest problem is that I need certa-in documents from Spain to be accepted to play here with a regular team in a football club. As a result, I don’t train as much as in Spain, as I’m still awaiting them. The second thing are my difficulties in communication with other members of my team; therefore, I can’t pay attention to playing because I am wondering too much about how to express

myself in English.

Q: Do you think of becoming a professional sportsman in the future?

A: Of course! This is my big dream since the very beginning of my life! I remember the time, when I was in primary school – the teachers were asking us about various things and I said “I would love to be a pro-fessional football player”. This is the reason why I’m trying to do my best and train as much as it is possible. I am following in my father’s footsteps - he is my great inspira-tion! But it is not as easy as you could sup-pose – I need to do specific exercises and obey certain diet rules.

Q: What do you miss the most while in Po-land?

A: There are a lot of things that I miss being in Poland, but friends, language and football definitely the most. I remember my first days in Gliwice, which were really complicated for me. I had only my parents and my brother and I was overwhelmed by this change. To-day, it is much better thanks to my girlfriend Hania and my friend Martina – they are supporting me all the time and I can be fully myself with them. Still it is not the same as being in Spain.

Q:What are your favorite activities in your free time? A: In my free time I usually play football be-cause this is my hobby. Besides, I like run-ning and playing basketball. Additionally I often play the ukulele, which is one of my favourite instruments. During weekends I meet my friends and of course we some-times go to parties, so I am a very active person!

Aleksandra Lichodziejewska


IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO TRY!

An interview with Maciej Trabka from

Gliwicki Teatr Muzyczny

Have you ever wanted to take up something new, but you decided not to because “you’re too old” or “it’s too late” to learn it? Have you ever been afraid of facing new challen-ges since “you’re going to fail anyway” or because “it’s not worth it”?

Back in June, I met with Maciej Trabka, a dancer associated with Gliwicki Teatr Mu-zyczny and Teatr A. Maciek is a graduate of the Ludomir Rozycki Ballet School in By-tom. Currently he’s studying at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London. You may know him from plays such as “Vampires and Ghosts”, where he portrayed the main role of the Vampire, and “Carmen”, where he had three roles: Don Jose, Escamillo and Death, or from the po-sters promoting XXV Gliwice Theatre Meetin-gs. He’s been dancing for only four years. He decided to take up the new challenge. And he did take a chance. And he did make it. Q: When did you start to dance?

A: I started to dance at the age of 15.

Q: That’s impressive. When I first saw you on stage, I was convinced you had been dancing since your early childhood. I’m pretty sure it took a lot of effort and hard work. How did your dancing journey begin?

A: All my life, I’ve always been searching for various new ways, different possibilities. Eventually I came across dancing. It was another thing, another activity – I thought what I should do now, and I figured, dancing was it.

Q: What did you do before?

A: Acrobatics, capoeira, climbing, sailing, volleyball, swimming, archery…

Q: Okay, so you made your decision. Dan-cing. What did you do next?

A: I started searching for dance schools. Soon I found myself at the Cracow Dance Academy, where I spent a year. After that I was asked whether I had thought about a professional school. I tried at the ones in Bytom and Warsaw, since they were the clo-sest to where I lived. I got into both, but I chose Bytom.

Q: Did you have any moments of self-doubt while being there?

A: Many times. It required a lot of work on my part. I came to that school in the mid-dle of seventh grade. In ballet school, the education lasts nine years. I had to catch up on seven and a half years during two and a half. There were lots of things to do, much


pressure to keep on working, to keep on get-ting better, practice… Far from home, from the friends I have known my whole life.

Q: Did they support you? Your friends and family?

A: Yes, big time. I was very lucky, since as we know from the movies, it does not al-ways happen. But I had and still have the-ir support. Besides, later the Teatr A’s crew sort of became my second family.

Q: While being on stage, you seem to be entranced in your own world. What do you feel when you’re performing? What do you think about? Do you let yourself get com-pletely carried away by emotions?

A: Yes, that’s exactly what I try to do – space out. That’s what it’s all about, for-getting about the real world, forgetting who we are and actually becoming the character we’re portraying.

Q: Do you identify with played characters?

A: Absolutely. That’s how it works, to com-pletely change into that person.

Q: Do you have a dream role? Maybe a par-ticular play you’d like to have a part in?

A: That’s a difficult question… There are a lot of interesting figures in history, literature, I’d love to portray, but I don’t think I have a specific dream role.

Q: Do you accept dancing parts only? Or maybe create characters with both body language and verbal speech?

A: I’ve had a few speaking roles before, which I recall very well.

Q: Do you happen to be nervous before go-ing on stage?

A: Of course, what kind of theatre would it be without any stress?

Q: Where do your inspirations come from?

A: I find them everywhere. In everything I go through – my life, my trips, books I’ve read,

people I’ve met.

Q: How did you get from Bytom to Gliwice? A: Teatr A was looking for a young dancer for the part of David the Shepard. Someone at school noticed me and my colleague Pa-tryk. We cut a deal, and somehow I stayed there. Later on I had parts in “Apokalipsa”, “Giganci”, “Tobiasz”, “Franciszek”, “Dante-ida Boska Komedia”, “Totus Tuus”… Q: How do you like working with the GTM? A: I’m really glad I was given a chance for this cooperation. It allowed me to “spread my wings”. The Valentine’s Day concert was the first show I took part in. Then, I joined the performances of “Carmen” and “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”. They’ve let me develop myself, work in the theatre. I’ve gained the stage instinct, which is very im-portant to reduce that pre-show stress and to do my best empathizing with the play-ed character. For me it’s crucial not only to dance nicely, but also to show something more, to portray the emotions, to bring abo-ut change in the audience, not only in me. Q: I still find it difficult to believe you’ve been dancing for only 4 years… I can’t imagine how hard you had to work, to achieve what you did. A: Well yes, I had to push myself a lot. I had to roll up my sleeves and train every day, each morning before and after the lessons, deny myself something from time to time, and keep moving forward with my resolu-tion. Q: How do you feel as a young person who suddenly gets acknowledged by people? Gets into a great university? Aren’t you overwhelmed by it? Or maybe you’re exci-ted?

A: I’m really excited about studying in Lon-don; I’m really happy I went there, passed the exam and got in. This whole thing about being recognizable, people coming up to me, praising me, and so on - I try to be reserved about that. I don’t want to get all excited. To be honest, the fame, being known is kind of turning me off.


Q: Well, I’m afraid you’re going to have to get used to it… You mentioned that you had to go and pass the exam. What did your ap-plication process look like? Did you get an invitation, or maybe you found this school by yourself? A: The school was recommended to me. I had sent in an application, with recommen-dations, covering letter, and photos. They considered it positively and invited me for exams and an interview. After that I came back to Poland, and a couple of weeks later I received an answer that I was accepted. Q: Where would you like to end up after your studies? In Poland, in England, or maybe so-mewhere else? A: I think I’m going to dance for a while in England, but at the end of the day I’d like to end up in Poland. Q: It’s difficult to come back once you’ve had a taste of the big wide world… Won’t you have regrets? A: We’ll see. Q: In general, where do you see yourself in five to ten years? Do you have any speci-fic goals? Are you waiting for the moment when you feel that you’ve already done what you wanted to do, that you’ve made your dreams come true?

A: No, I don’t have anything like that. It’s more like I’m setting myself smaller goals, like these studies in London or some smaller projects. I’m looking for it, but I don’t know if I find it. Sometimes I’m wondering whether dancing is the only right way. But what I do know is that it makes me happy.

Q: Aside from studying and theatre, do you have any other hobbies? Any passions, be-sides dancing? Do you have time for that?

A: Yes, things I’ve mentioned before, also windsurfing, trips, rock climbing, hiking, ice skating, tightrope walking, juggling, books – I really love books… But there is indeed a problem with finding the time. Especially la-tely, with a lot of rehearsals, performances…

Q: You took up dancing at a quite unusual age. Usually people start ballet dancing in their early childhood. I believe it’s a great example that it’s never too late for new challenges. Do you have any advice for young people who hesitate to take up challenges like that?

A: First of all, anything is possible, and whatever you think of, you can start it at any time. Yes, it will be difficult, sometimes it may seem impossible, but if you’re really determined you can always make it. You just have to work hard. Don’t allow yourself to think that there’s no point, or you just don’t feel like doing it today. Just work, work, work.

Agata Korek


12 /// Culture /// IB Review

Why do we listen to music?

We spend plenty of time listening to music. Young people age 8 to 18 spend an average of 2 hours 19 minutes a day on that activity. Since 1991, when the MP3 was invented, we can have access to music wherever we go (but nowadays on our iPods or phones instead). People have listened to music since ancient times. Nowadays we have an enor-mous range of artists, don’t we? Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart... Everyone can find something for themselves.But have you ever wondered why we do that? Why do we find pleasure in it? The an-swer may surprise you a bit, but it is becau-se we think. It is culture (music) that makes us different from animals (so if you listen to music you can be quite sure of being hu-man).Thanks to our brain we can decide if the music is sad or happy. That isn’t just a subjective idea – our brain responds diffe-rently then. Have you ever noticed that you are scared while hearing the soundtrack of a horror movie which your brother is watching in the next room? That is because we can perceive the related emotions without truly feeling them. Music also preserves our memories. When I was younger, during every longer car trip, my mum would listen to the same favo-urite CD of Vanessa Mae. Nowadays, every time my brother and I hear those performan-ces we feel tired, bored and ill. In fact all our senses can do that, for instance when you smell citrus scent while learning Maths, smelling the same scent will help you re-member what you have learnt. At Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh the following connection was found between fans of given genres of music. Those who are keen on blues are gentle and the same as jazz fans have high self-esteem, are cre-ative, outgoing and at ease. Classical mu-sic is listened to by people who have high self-esteem, are creative, introverted and at ease. Rap fans have high self-esteem and are outgoing. People who like opera have high self-esteem, are creative and gentle,

while those who prefer country and western music are hard-working and outgoing. Reg-gae fans have high self-esteem, are creati-ve, not hard-working, outgoing, gentle and at ease in comparison to dance fans who aren’t gentle, but are both creative and out-going. India fans are neither hard-working nor gentle and have low self-esteem, altho-ugh they are creative. Bollywood fans are creative and outgoing. Both rock and heavy metal fans are creative, gentle and at ease, are neither hard-working nor outgoing and have low self-esteem. It is worthwhile to listen to music during unpleasant duties (like washing the dishes...) or exercising. That is because we pay more attention to the music and con-centrate less on what we are doing. This im-proves the results we achieve while training – in 1911 Leonard Ayres found that cyc-lists pedalled faster listening to music than they did in silence. A century later, in 2012 another study demonstrated that the cyclists listening to music required 7% less oxygen to do the same work as those who pedalled in silence.

Malgorzata Kurcjusz

POP CULTURE TAKEOVER

by STORMERS

What’s interesting about every musical icon is the fandom it brings with it. You must have heard the term ’fangirling’ be-fore, haven’t you? Well, if you haven’t, it’s a name used to describe the most dedica-ted fans and how they react to everything their idols do. So who are the Stormers and where did their name come from? It all started with Dan Smith who was born in London 14 July 1986 – Bastil-le Day. Years later, this young man created a band called ’Bastille’. Their breakthrough moment was when their fourth single ’Pom-peii’ was released and became an amazing success; you could hear it everywhere. The song was positively reviewed by critics, re-aching number two in the United Kingdom and number five in the US. Their debut album Bad Blood was released on 4 March 2013, and placed at number one in the UK Albums Chart. From a locally-known band they be-came an international music phenomenon. To keep up the momentum, on 25 November 2013, the group released a reissue of the debut album - “All This Bad Blood”, which also became a huge success. What is more, Dan, Kyle, Will and Woody were recognized on the BRIT Awards. The band was nomi-nated in four categories at the 2014 cere-mony, including the British Breakthrough Act, British Group, British Single of the Year and British Album of the Year, winning in the British Breakthrough Act category. In the meantime they had a tour of Europe and the United States and attended a lot of Music Festivals all around Europe winning the hearts of millions of people. As a result they built themselves quite a big fan base which is called ’Stormers’ because of their idol’s birthday, as mentio-ned earlier - the Bastille Day, celebrating the storming of the medieval prison during the French Revolution. Stormers know all abo-

ut their favourite band, go to Bastille’s con-certs and even keep in touch with the band via Twitter or other social media. Bastille is actually a very active band when it co-mes to contacting their fans. You can see a lot of interactions with Stormers on their Twitter profiles, e.g. Questions&Answers. The band also gained a huge amo-unt of fans in Poland. There is a Polish fan base called Bastille Poland which works on every social media website following the band’s career and organising special events to show the devotion of the Polish fans. As it turns out, Polish Stormers impressed the British group with their dedication, energy and loudness. During the first gig in War-saw, Dan Smith said that the Polish audien-ce was the best crowd of the entire tour, jumping the highest and singing the loudest. An American interview from September made Polish fans even prouder. Dan, Kyle, Will and Woody asked for their impressions following all their performances at festivals again proclaimed the Polish crowd the best one. Will even said that the reaction of the public made him feel like Britney Spears. Being a part of a fan base is a gre-at adventure offering an opportunity to meet people with similar interests who admire the same people. What can be more unify-ing than sharing the excitement about every news item referring to your favourite band?

Katarzyna Tomczuk&

Karolina Botwina

IB Review /// Culture /// 13

Is it a shame to call yourself a feminist?

Feminism exists and develops from the begin-ning of 20th century. However, nowadays this phenomenon is many times misinterpreted and as a result a lot of people say they are against feminism and feminists. Very often we can’t blame these people for their views on feminism because these are aggressive, men-hating “fe-minists” who are responsible for a false image of REAL feminists. So who are REAL feminists and how should they be regarded? FEMINIST - A PERSON WHO BELIEVES IN SO-CIAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC EQUALITY OF RIGHTS OF FEMALES AND MALES.

First of all, the definition of feminist should start with: MAN OR WOMAN who believes and so on… in order to eliminate the untrue im-pression that a feminist is a woman. The big question is why young people and adults are more likely to be influenced by aggressive, men-hating “feminists” rather than by peace-ful and love-spreading REAL feminists. As a young woman believing in equal rights, it hits me when people ask me why I am a feminist! From time to time I have a conversation with someone I don’t know very well, and at some point of the small talk I state: “I am a feminist” and what I usually hear after my words is: “Ola, why?! What happened?! Someone hurt you?” Actually this person by posing those questions suggests that I should be ashamed of it and not say the “feminist-word” out loud! And it leaves me speechless… I literally don’t know what to say first, and how I should explain things that are so primary in my opinion. A good start in this situation probably would be to say that: * I want everyone to have equal rights * women should decide about their future * I want to show my disagreement for violence against women * I want to fight with the sexist and chauvini-stic perception of women and very often tre-ating them only as sexual objects (not only by men).

All these arguments would be enough to co-nvince the average intelligent person to be a feminist. Then why the majority of people consider feminism as a controversial issue and they don’t want to identify themselves as feminists? The problem is a false impression

about how a feminist should look like, behave, whether she/he should or should not have chil-dren, how much she/he should earn, etc. There is no certain way of being a feminist and this view should be spread throughout the world! Very optimistic is a fact that in recent months world’s most influential people took their vo-ices to support equal rights. One of the most significant events was Emma Watson’s speech at the UN Conference dedicated to “HeForShe” Campaign. She openly declared herself a femi-nist and encouraged men to fight for women’s rights: “How can we effect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feels welcome to participate in the conversation?” Also po-liticians got involved in fighting with inequali-ty. British Prime Minister David Cameron said: „(…), if that means equal rights for women, then yes. If that is what you mean by feminist, then yes, I am a feminist.” While considering famous feminists we can’t forget about Ma-lala Yousafzai - a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize recipient. Malala is at the same time a great example of modern fighting for a great cause feminist.

Many powerful and influential people stand be-hind feminism and support it. Women and men should not be ashamed of believing in equal rights. Furthermore, they should all feel the obli-gation to promote equality among their friends, family, schoolmates and colleagues. Feminism should never be regarded as something to be ashamed of because its primary purpose is to unite and not divide.

Aleksandra Lichodziejewska


SCIENTIFIC LIFE HACKS

Thanks to science people were able to go to the Moon, find out how closely orangutans and chimpanzees are related and synthesi-ze element 117. Yeah, right... But how can science help you in your everyday life? In my article you can read about some scienti-fically proven ways to make your life easier and why they work.

Heating

A freezing cold car is no fun. To make it heat up efficiently make the heater blow on your legs. The car will heat up faster because of convection. Hot air is less dense than cold air so the warmer masses at the bottom move up and replace the cold air. The circulation continues, making the car warm and cozy. If the heater blows upwards the air near the floor stays cold. That’s why radiators are placed near the floor and air conditioners are hung on the ceiling.

HOT FOODIf eating that super hot burrito is getting a little bit too challenging, try drinking a glass of milk. Spicy food is spicy because of a chemical compound called capsaicin. Cap-saicin oil is not soluble in water so drinking it won’t help with the burning. Milk on the other hand contains casein - a lipophilic (fat--loving) substance that binds with capsaicin simply washing it away.

But what if it’s too late and your tongue is already hurt? Try chewing mint gum. It con-tains menthol, a substance helpful in capsa-icin-induced irritation.

StudyingIt is an important part of a student’s life, especially an IB student, so study smart, not hard. Schedule a workout before your study session. It not only makes you more energi-zed, but also increases the blood flow, ma-king nutrients and oxygen reach your brain faster. This makes you less tired and helps you think faster. Additionally, during exercise your body produces epinephrine, a hormone that increases concentration and awareness. After you’re done, take a nap. Studies have shown that sleeping slows down the rate of memory deterioration and makes recal-ling information you’ve learned easier. It also means that it’s better to study a bit and then get some sleep than pull an all-nighter befo-re an important exam.

Unripe fruitIf you simply can’t wait to enjoy your healthy snack, but the fruit is still not ready to eat, try putting it in a paper bag with a banana or an apple. Your fruit of interest will ripen twice as fast as it normally would. Ethylene is a gas that causes fruit to ripen. It is then produced by ripened fruit. By putting the fruit in a bag you trap the emitted gas, therefore making it react with the fruit. Bananas and apples produce a particularly large amounts of ethylene, so they’re the best kind to use for this purpose.

Alicja Polanska


A man of

many faces On 11th November the National Inde-pendence Day was celebrated in Poland. In the United States, however, a completely different reason to celebrate was provided- Leonardo DiCaprio’s 40th birthday! How about taking a closer look at his biography on this occa-sion? The unusually gifted and versatile actor was born in Los Angeles. He is an only child of Irmelin (née Indenbirken) and a well-known comic book artist George Paul DiCaprio. A ru-mor has it that Leo’s mum has always been an art-lover and used to visit various art galleries while she was pregnant with her son, as she believed that it would make him more artistic in the future. During one of such visits she felt the baby’s movement and because it happened while she was admiring one of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings, she decided to name her son after the Italian polymath. Whether the story is true or not will probably never be revealed, but one thing is certain - Irmelin’s son indeed appe-ared to be artistic, although in quite a different way than his mum expected. The beginning of his career wasn’t easy, though. It is widely be-lieved that the film which opened his long and

fascinating career was This Boy’s Life, which is not true- before this, he acted in a low-bud-get sci-fi comedy called: Critters 3. (Later on he commented on it: “I admit I’ve done a few lousy roles in the beginning of my career, like my role in Critters 3. But at that age, you’ll do anything for attention!”). Nevertheless, his portrayals of Toby Wolf in This Boy’s Life and Arnie Grape, a mentally challenged youth, in What’s eating Gilbert Grape (both in 1993) astonished the audience and reviewers. It was then that he received his first Oscar nomination (for What’s eating…; Tommy Lee Jones won the Award that year). But he still wasn’t at the peak of his popularity. As it is pointed out in his IMBd’s (the biggest Internet films database) Mini Biography: “While these diverse roles [the ones from 1993 to 1995] helped establish Le-onardo’s reputation as an actor, it wasn’t until his role as Romeo in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) that Leonardo became a ho-usehold name, a true movie star.” The role in Romeo + Juliet indeed was a milestone in his career. But it skyrocketed after his performance in Titanic (1997), directed by James Cameron. Leonardo himself, however, had mixed feelings about the enormous success the blockbuster’s achieved: “It was pretty disheartening to be ob-jectified like that. I wanted to stop acting for a little bit. But it changed my life in a lot of ways, but at the same time, I can’t say that it didn’t give me opportunities. It made me, for the first time, in control of my career.” On the set he also met one of his best friends - Kate Wins-let.


Later on Leo was considered for the roles that other actors would only dream of. He starred in Catch me if you can (2002), Gan-gs of New York (2002; it was the first out of six films that he worked on with the fa-mous director Martin Scorsese), The Avia-tor (2004; he almost won an Oscar for por-traying a brilliant inventor Howard Hughes - finally Jamie Foxx got the Award) and Blo-od Diamond (2006; Leo lost another Oscar, this time to Forest Whitaker). After his role in The Department (2006), however, DiCaprio slowed down the pace. He became intere-sted in climate - change activism. He bought some homes, most of which were com-pletely eco-friendly, got involved in some love affairs, with blonde supermodels most frequently, and traveled to different places. In 2010, however, he accepted some roles once again. He played in: Inception, and Shutter Island, Django (2012) and in the new adaptation of The Great Gatsby (2013). Then, a year ago, Martin Scorsese coope-rated with Leo on his new project. It was the story of Jordan Belfort, a wealthy broker from New York, involved in corruption. DiCa-prio seemed perfect for the main role and he was preparing for it for weeks. The effect of his work was astonishing and everyone was sure that he would get the Academy Award this time. But the Oscar Statuette went to Matthew McConaughey for his role in Dallas Buyers Club. Some claim that the members of the Academy simply don’t like DiCaprio, others say that “Leo’s curse” worked aga-in. Apart from the entire Oscar- case, it is hard to deny that Leonardo is an excep-tionally talented actor, known for his “intense emotional acting style”, as it is called in his IMBd’s biography. However, he is also a very interesting man in his private life. One can find loads of trivia about him, for example in the interviews he gave. He revealed that he speaks a little German, his favourite color is dark green (“It’s the color of nature and the color of money and the color of moss!”), he is completely in love with film posters and he described what his perfect girlfriend should be like (“I like girls who are intelli-gent, somewhat funny, and pretty with a nice personality”). But one of his most famous quotes is the one about acting, and it also seems to be perfect to summarize his career

and all his achievements up to now: “The best thing about acting is that I get to lose myself in another character and actually get paid for it. It’s a great outlet. As for my-self, I’m not sure who I am. It seems that I change every day.”

Many happy returns, Leo!

Nadia Radomska____________All the quotes come from imbd.com. I also used the information included in the article: “40 things you never knew about Leonardo DiCaprio” by Tshepo Mokoena, published on theguardian.com.


BECAUSE IT’S COOL TO GIVE!

#StyleEntry is a project which many people all over the world are involved in. The cre-ator of this idea is Joseph Amissah, who sits predominately at the helm of the aviation world, providing his expertise tailored servi-ces into the private jet sector via his spe-cialist aviation consultancy “Blue Cube Avia-tion.” Joseph started to motivate people and promote the idea of giving. He wants people to be aware of the fact that their lives can be like they want them to be. Joseph has an account on Instagram, where everyone can see what he’s doing and draw inspiration to start work. We found Joseph’s account and became fascinated by his great activities. He sent us his shirts and we became #StyleEntry soldiers. We promote the idea of giving and motivating others in our everyday lives and try to encourage other people to see what Joseph does. Maybe by our work, we will inspire somebody to join the #StyleEntry team and start to live differently.

Here come our responses to Joseph’s qu-estion, which was “Why it is cool to give?”

“At first, I want to say that a rich person is not the one who has but the one who gives. The biggest pleasure for me it is when I see the happiness on the faces of people who receive something from me. Giving away makes me feel as good as when I ride a motorbike, words can’t simply describe this amazing feeling. You just need to try! As they say, one good turn deserves another.Secondly, a gift consists not in what is gi-ven, but in the intention of the giver. I think it’s the most important for everybody on this planet to understand that simple rule.

In the end I’d like to add that ‘great oppor-tunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day’ (Sally Koch). We can’t forget about little kindness and we need to enthuse people with a smile and good vibes all the time. “

“I remember one Christmas Eve, when I was a kid (maybe 7 years old), I was very upset. My mother thought that I wasn’t happy with the presents I had got. But no, they were perfect. When my father asked me why? I said: ‚Why don’t I have money to buy you all presents? I’ve got many ideas, but I can’t fulfill them! My older brother can do it! Why can I do nothing? That’s not fair! ‚

I was really angry that I saw their (especially my mother’s) faces with smiles, when so-mebody was happy about the present he/she got. That wasn’t fair that I couldn’t give them anything! Although I knew that they lo-ved my every smile, my every caring word or in fact anything I did, I wanted to be just like them.

So now I want to be like Joseph. And for those who say: ‚I can’t give others anything because I’m not so rich and I have no mo-ney to pay even for everything for me and my family’ - REMEMBER - Giving doesn’t mean giving much, but giving at the right time. Sometimes giving means something ‚above’ tangible goods. Others often need (for us ONLY, but for them that’s something very important) our attention, help, even one smile as then they may feel better, have a better day, even life. They need us this way. Everybody needs somebody, so we must re-spond to that. Only then, if you are in need, you will receive much more than you have given to others.”

An interview with Joseph carried out by Ma-riel Jones:

What are your main goals and achievements with #StyleEntry?

My main aim is to bring increased aware-ness on an international platform to the message behind the t-shirts. Other goals will be to diversify #StyleEntry with leading de-sign high-end fashion labels to encourage them to design in limited numbers „I want to be just like... Joseph” shirts that will be sold where 100% of the proceeds will be distributed to various international children’s charities/orphanages.


Is there a particular target audience?

#StyleEntry is open to all. There is absolu-tely no restriction as far as sex, age, race or nationality is concerned. The shirts are distributed to absolutely anyone who reque-sts them, regardless of where they live.

If you could see anyone, past or present re-presenting #StyleEntry, who would it be?

This is a question that I have often thought about and always find myself coming to the same conclusion: Pharrell Williams. I say Pharrell because not only for his musical and fashion accomplishments, but also for his charitable efforts based on education. This last achievement is very close to my heart as through a collaboration with a UK based charity called „SOS Africa” run by Dr. Matt Crowcombe. I have formed an Educa-tional Charity Foundation which will come under the #StyleEntry brand. The purpo-se of the Foundation is to provide financial scholarships to children in Africa from low income families to enable them to obtain a regular education as well as to be provided with breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day. The interim goal is to have a minimum of 70 children enrolled into the scheme each year, with the final objective being to eventually roll the scheme out across other continents. The scheme has already begun successful-ly with the first 10 children now attending full time school in South Africa, and I look forward to the new attendees being enrolled. Again, this whole project is being personally financed through myself.

How do you think #StyleEntry affects those on the receiving end of the merchandise?

I feel that the merchandise affects people in a very positive manner. Naturally I under-stand that there is an initial degree as many are brought up to believe that „nothing is for free” and perhaps the same could be said about what I am doing, but the difference is that all I want in return is for people to simplyunderstand that if I am able to give my time, energy, and money to complete strangers in the hope that they can perhaps see things as I do, then they can surely do the same with whatever they have to give. Even if it’s only

their time as in fact their time is more valu-able than money itself. To date, the result of the comments that people place when they post the pictures of them wearing their shi-rts is living proof that this message is really finding its way across to them, and being distributed throughout their networks.

If you could give one piece of advice to re-aders of this article, what would it be?

This is an easy question for me to answer. I would simply say... ”Be the very best that you can be... and inspire others through your actions”.

To get in on the trend follow Joseph on In-stagram @JosephAmissah and keep up to date with his latest ideas, trends and give-aways as well as help him give back, post your photo’s to show your support.

Nicole Rybakiewicz and Agata Tokarska


The man who walked

On 20th October 2014 the news of a paralyzed man walking spread all around the world. Da-rek Fidyka, a Polish firefighter, regained enough nerve function after a glial cell transplant to be able to walk again.

The patient’s storyIn 2010 Darek Fidyka was stabbed with a knife in his back, the blade cutting through his spi-nal cord and thus impairing the ability of the nerve impulses to pass on to the lower parts of his body. He had been paralyzed from the chest down for almost two years, undergoing intensive physiotherapy without any signs of improvement.

The method An interdisciplinary team from Wroclaw, led by doctor Pawel Tabakow and professor Wlodzi-mierz Jarmundowicz, has been working on a method of transplanting olfactory ensheathing glial cells from the nose into the spinal cord. These cells’ properties had been initially disco-vered by Professor Geoffrey Raisman of Lon-don University College over twenty years ear-lier. The Polish neurosurgeons and their team had already used this method on three paraple-gic patients, who showed some “neurological improvement” when they decided to use it on Mr. Fidyka.

An extremely beneficial complication In Mr. Fidyka’s case, the team was unable to extract the cells from his nose due to the in-flammation of the mucous membrane inside it. As his injury was ideally suited for this method, the neurosurgeons didn’t give up and pursued a more invasive procedure. It included opening his skull and removing one of his olfactory bulbs (neural structures that are essential for the proper functioning of the sense of smell). It may seem peculiar that they resected a part of the brain without impairing its function. It was possible because the two olfactory bulbs, pre-sent in every human’s brain, are its only region undergoing constant regeneration (even during adulthood). Moreover, the olfactory bulbs con-tain olfactory ensheathing glia, which not only have the ability to regenerate themselves but also to “stimulate the regeneration of neurons” as professor Jarmundowicz (oneThis property was essential as the team transplanted the ol-factory ensheathing glia from the olfactory bulb taken from Mr. Fidyka’s brain into an eight mil-limeter gap in his spinal cord. Of course there was a time lapse between the two surgeries as the patient needed to recover and the scientists had to increase the number of cells (by gro-wing them in a lab).

How the cells were transplantedThe transplant itself took place in April 2013 and lasted for about ten hours. Firstly, the neu-rosurgeons removed the scar tissue that had grown around the wound in Mr. Fidyka’s spinal cord. Next, they inserted some fragments of tissue containing nerve fibers, previously re-

20 /// World /// IB Review

sected from his ankle, which were going to serve as a scaffolding for the glial cells. The fibers included Schwann cells (another kind of glia found in the peripheral nervous sys-tem), whose role is to support nerve deve-lopment and regeneration, so they might turn out to be additionally beneficial. After that, with the aid of special mounting and micro syringes, the neurosurgeons made numero-us injections of a suspension containing the olfactory ensheathing glia above and below the eight millimeter wound. They hoped that the glia would start growing across the gap along the implanted nerve fibers and stimu-late the growth of neurons.

The spectacular success of the transplantAfter the surgery Mr. Fidyka was doing five hours of rehabilitation five days a week until October 2014 (for more than 20 months!). It began to pay off as early as a couple of months after the transplant. Firstly, he began to regain sensation in the area of his crotch and then the calf. Next, he started to move his thighs and gain muscle mass. Today, not only is he able to sit independently and drive a specially-adjusted car, but more importan-tly, he can walk with the help of a walker

The implications of this pioneering transplant for paraplegics The success of this transplant has raised the hopes of people suffering from spinal cord injuries, but it is unfortunately not that easy to make this method widely available for all the patients. That is mainly because Darek Fidyka’s case is the first and so far the only one where the technique used by the Wroclawian team has brought such spec-tacular results. We all know how essential it is to acquire repeatable, reliable results in clinical trials before introducing a new way of treating any disorder. What is more, the method is only aimed at patients whose spinal cord was transected in one particu-lar spot. The majority of people with spinal cord injuries are suffering from more severe damage caused by for example diving into unknown, shallow water basins. Not only was the continuity of their neural signals’ transduction interrupted, but their vertebrae were also dislocated, crushed or fractured. Those kinds of injuries are unfortunately not suitable for the method developed by the Wroclawian neurosurgeons.

On the other hand, the prospect of regaining at least some of the nerve function and thus becoming more independent (by, for exam-ple, being able to drive a specially-adjusted car like Mr. Fidyka) is extremely attractive for the paraplegics as it would be a huge impro-vement in their quality of life. That is why it should come as no surprise that there are hundreds of them trying to reach the Wroc-lawian neurosurgeons ever since the results of the transplant were published, in order to sign up for the experimental treatment. The team is preparing to start the next stage of the study of the potential of glial cells in tre-atment of spinal cord injuries next year. The world will certainly be watching their pro-gress with great anticipation and hope.

Agata Oliwa

IB Review /// World /// 21

Kick Off of a Brand-new

EntrepreneurshipImagine yourself having an idea for a new movie, a theater play, a computer game, an electronic gadget or a revolutionary inven-tion. You are young, ambitious and enterpri-sing, but in today’s world the money is es-sential for putting any idea into practice. To acquire it, you can take a loan, sell yourself to a corporation or win the lottery. All the-se methods, however, involve financial risk, loss of intellectual independence or depend on luck.

Fortunately, in the era of the Internet, you can encounter people who share common inte-rests, a desire of mutual assistance as well as an inclination to gamble. Those individu-als may bet a small amount of money on you in the hope of pushing the world forward by making something new and innovative.The overall rule is simple – like a drop of water drilling the rock or a falling pebble causing an avalanche, each subsequent do-nation brings you closer to your goal.Albeit at first glance it looks like another cha-rity collection, but what distinguishes Kick-starter and other crowdfunding portals is the measurable benefit obtained by the suppor-ters, ranging from a virtual handshake, by a commemorative T-shirt, and ending with the actual shares in the venture business.This tangible reward for supporting the pro-ject creates a specific bond between the backers and the entrepreneur which may contribute to the immense success of this platform. Additionally, the strict financial gain is not the only merit of crowdfunding. On the contrary to conventional financiers, who have to be satisfied by sufficient prior mar-

ket and target research, a compelling project can individually gather the audience and cu-stomer feedback raising a producer’s profile as well as creates a forum where community can comment the features of the project and engage with the initiators.

These aforementioned characteristics of crowdfunding are especially beneficent for game developers as it encourages beta-te-sting the content or offering pre-release ac-cess as a part of the funding incentives in a view to discover possible errors and en-hance the product. Nevertheless, the music industry can as well have a supporting view of crowdfunding. It enables the musicians to act in essential cooperation with their au-dience creating a whole new level of inte-raction.

On paper the idea and way of functioning of Kickstarter seem flawless and idealistic. The reality is, however, harsh. Projects are usually established by people with no busi-ness experience, so they may face problems such as cost underestimation or poor quality of the components of the finished product. In such cases, the pettiness of the backers often comes to light. This can manifest from unfavorable comments on the project to the judicial threats concerning a possible breach of contract. But that’s not the way it should go. Kickstarter is not just another online sto-re where you can buy clothes or electronic equipment. Personally, I think that using this platform can be compared to an adventure, at which, by sacrificing his own funds, one is able to obtain access to content that is not available by any other means. Fortuna-tely, the vast majority of backers seem to share such a point of view, so that our world can thrive not just being dependent on large corporations.

Piotr Bialas


Learning English in Engl ish-speaking

countriesHave you ever felt that your ability to talk in English can be much better, but you are not able to improve it in a classroom? Let’s be honest - when the teacher can’t hear, all of us speak Polish. But would you manage to speak English only because you are the only person in the classroom who knows Po-lish? International schools of English can provide this experience to you. In August 2014 I went to Scotland for two weeks to attend one of these schools (it was Kaplan International Colleges) and it was a truly un-forgettable time. First of all, there were not as many Poles as we would expect. I only met two, but we didn’t really get along. Therefore, the only way for me to communi-cate with others was in English.

I met people from all over the world. Most of them were from Spain, Italy or the Mid-dle East, but there were also students form France, Japan, Germany, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and even from Taiwan (don’t mix it up with China!).

There were about twenty people in my class the first week and ten the second week. We learned a lot about our classmates’ cultures, just by talking to each other. Also, we had two lessons about the Scottish Referendum. Cultural and age boundaries disappeared. The school also provided us a lot of enterta-inment. Every day there was a different ac-tivity for those who did not have their own plans. I had classes in the afternoon, so my mornings were full of trips or meetings with friends. I visited Edinburgh either alone, with a friend or with a school trip. One day we had an opportunity to eat a Scottish break-fast, another day (in the evening) there was Scottish dancing. Not only were we learning the language, but also the culture. The te-achers and school workers were incredibly kind and helpful and so was my host Yvette. She really cared about her guests (two of us the first week and only me the second week) and she was a great conversationa-

list. In addition, everyone was very commu-nicative, even the beginners.

The first day, I met an Italian girl. Her English was terrible and yet everyone understood her. One day one of our friends told her that she really needed to work on her English. As a response, she asked me if I was able to understand her.

I nodded and she said: “See? She under-stands me, I understand she.” To conclude, I believe that English schools in Anglo-Sa-xon countries (e.g. Kaplan colleges are not only located in the UK, but also in the US, Australia, Ireland, Canada and New Zealand) are a great idea for spending your holidays in nice company, learning the language and gaining knowledge about foreign cultures. I would highly recommend it for everyone.

Barbara Sitko


STUDYING LESS, KNOWING MORE

How to never end up pulling an all-nighter again

Fifteen exercises about trigonometric re-lationships for maths lesson; written inter-pretation of a single paragraph from a novel that can have 256 different implied meanin-gs, including reference to the Bible and a theme taken from Stalin’s speech from 1951 (which nobody remembers, of course); bio-logy investigation on osmosis for yesterday; a 200-page book in German, which you have to read for the day after tomorrow but you haven’t even started; and most impor-tantly: a list of bibliography for your Exten-ded Essay lying peacefully at the bottom of the drawer, waiting for your mercy and some willingness to add charitably just one or two new positions.

Do you know from somewhere that exten-sive list of things meant to be completed “for yesterday”? I guess you do, especial-ly if you are an IB student. But in fact you don’t need to be taking IB to get a feeling that sometimes 24 hours is just not enough to do everything you have to. Let me guess what you do if you face such a situation: you either make yourself a coffee so strong that it could give a new lease of life to a dead man, and after you drink it you devote to school duties another sleepless night, or you just give it all up and count on luck that in case a teacher gets to know about your little “chillout” you will become invisible. But let me tell you: both these options are advi-sable only in case you’re so desperate that you are unable of logic thinking. There is a much better way to manage not to go crazy in whole that “student’s life”.Paradoxically, to facilitate that life you need to get back to the years when you STILL used to think creatively and be fascinated about the world. It means changing the way you think by 180 degrees and trying to think again as you used to do it when you were… 5 years old.

In case you don’t believe your eyes reading the sentence before, I assure you: this is not a joke! However, you need to grasp what I mean: the key is to let your thoughts be free, go every direction they want to go without stopping them just like in a child’s mind, so that they can lead you further. If you tho-ught it would be a great occasion to once again start sleeping with impunity with your favourite teddy bear, sorry, I must disappo-int you. All you need to do is to get pas-sionate about what you do and what you can get to know. Look around: there are so many aspects of life, so intriguing and so impressive. And school gives you an unique opportunity to experience many of them. So don’t wait, don’t wonder, just catch it! Imagi-ne all those conversations you might have if you knew at least 1% of all curiosities which life offers you. How impressed the people whom you would talk to would be! I know, the picture is great: YOU in the limelight, re-garded as a person who has always some-thing engaging to say. Although the passion is only a part of the success, cause there remains the issue of remembering all those things, when you gain it, I assure you, there is no way back.To get you interested even more I can say, that learning itself also can be as easy as drawing pictures by a 5-year-old kid. Literal-ly. There is a great tool which enables you to save time spent on acquiring knowledge, so studying for your classes as well. Only two words: MIND MAPS. These are a kind of networks or chains of your thoughts presen-ted on a piece of paper using colours, pic-tures and different sizes and shapes of lines (zig-zacs, waved, etc.). They are so good because they contain all the connections between information and that helps you to learn faster. But most importantly, they make you think creatively. They are way better than conventional ‘line-under-line’ notes because:

•you learn the stuff already MAKING your no-tes as it involves critical thinking and asso-ciating ideas with one another

•this form is more friendly to your brain – just imagine thinking by seeing one-colour words written one after another instead of building colourful images in your mind – impossible, isn’t it?


•you save time making mind maps due to using only single words supported by pic-tures rather than writing whole sentences to express what you mean; and it is really eno-ugh because catchwords make your brain recall the thoughts which accompanied you at the time you were making your notes; in other words, the stuff already IS in your head and to be honest you don’t really need to learn it again, you just have to recall it

•making pictures, using colours and gene-rally thinking creatively makes learning easy and enjoyable; as a result you will get to like learning, and it’s not a possibility but an ine-vitability

How to make a stunning mind map:

1.Take an A4 sheet of paper and place the main concept of your map in the middle; it can be e.g. a topic of the lesson. Next to the title draw a picture which comes to your mind when you think of that topic. Circle it with a nice colour.

2.First underline in your book all the key po-int which, you think, are important for the matter and should be included in the map. You should enclose all the major ‘sub-points’ connected with the main concept in bran-ches protruding from the title. Try to use not more than 2-3 words. Point out those sections by thickening the lines under those words.

3.Add the information making next lines, lin-ked with the main one, or later with the ones already protruding from the main. Show the connections between the ideas by joining particular lines: the less important an infor-mation, the further it should be from the mid-dle. Feel free in your creativity and don’t get confused if you run out of space; you can always make a new mind map about a more detailed issue.

4.The more colours and pictures and the less words, the better. You should use only as many words as you need to understand the idea.

5.Have fun!

Below you’ll find an example of a mind map just to make sure you know exactly how it should look like.

So now try it out and experience the ma-gic of mind maps. For sure you’ll appreciate it when you get some extra time for sleep, meeting friends, watching a film which you didn’t have time for so far or anything else you want. And all of that thanks to one great method which turns learning (so boring up to now) into something so marvellous, that for the reason of it you won’t even notice when the fun ends and the studying begins!

Monika Skrobol


MICRO STORIESA mini-saga, a story of just fifty words, with a beginning, a middle and an end plus a wrap--up title. Not just that, but a story that instantly captivates the reader with dreams and disa-sters, fantasies and fears, loves and hates, humor, morality, immorality, the everyday and the extraordinary.

The mini-sagas are designed to tease and en-tertain the reader and writer alike. How im-mensely challenging it is to write a 50 word story is no secret to our students, who had a go at attaining the highest standards of short, witty, inventive and provocative writing. Here is a collection of their attempts selected by our editors.

”A mystery” by Andrzej Szczepanski

Once upon a tie there was a serious crimeBlood was spilt. There was someone killed.A hear in hearts was sowed. Is this someone I know? I hear footsteps near, a mystery is getting real. And a question came to my mind. Am I the next to be dead?

“Point of view” by Michal Kaminski

Years ago in great empire of United Arab Emi-rates three men were observing a house. At some moment two people went inside. After a while three people went outside.Biologist says: They multiplied.Physicist: No, this is measurment error.Mathematician: When another one gets insi-de, the house will be empty.

“The haunted house” by Daniel Klarenbach

In 1992 two boys Jack and Mark, the citizens of Glasgow, disappeared. They were last seen while breaking into an old house situated in the suburbs of Glasgow. They wanted to get back the ball which they had accidentally thrown there. The police found nothing except the ball...

“A hungry tiger with a toothache” by Pawel Pendzialek

A long time ago there lived a tiger in the fo-rest. One day the tiger had a toothache and it wasn’t able to eat. It went to the dentist’s in the nearest city, but the dentist didn’t invite it inside, because he was scared and the tiger died of starvation.

”Transformation” by Kinga Malcherczyk

Mrs. Tomato and Mr. Potato were very much in love. Unfortunately, other vegetables did not accept their relationship. only way for them to be together was to undergo a process of transformation. The couple opted for this dra-stic step and now they are eternally together as KETCHUP and FRIES.

”Loneliness affects all creations” by Karo-lina Sipika

On a desert island there lived a cell of bacteria. The cell was very lonely. It slept, ate, played and walked alone. It did everything alone. One day, it multiplied and created a second, identi-cal cell. From that day on the cells have done everything together becoming best friends.

”War” by Kamil Nowak

War is hell and this was no exception. The sight of blood made me sick. He did not want to kill people. He was not the kind who would hurt even a fly. He could not take it anymo-re, so one day he packed and sent the video game back.

”Suprise” by Michal Szczypior

John spent a fortune on that gold ring. Seven years of being married to Sasha, he had ne-ver remembered about her birthday. Today he wanted to surprise her. When he sneaked into their home late at night, Sasha wasn’t there. A letter on the table said:” it’s over John!”


”A spotted romance” by Julia Neugebauer

Ella met Helmut during holiday and fell in love with him. One day when Ella came to him, she saw Helmut wearing a spotted dress. The boy told her he’s is a secret union. Elle really loved Helmut, so she joined the union too. Now they live together wearing spotted dresses.

”Experience is not what happens to you.It’s what you do with what happens to you” Aldous Huxley by Natalia Ozga

When a retired policeman went to the bank, people came in a robbed it. After analyzing his behaviour, he promised himself to never be a bystander again. He has better skills that others, so he should help. A month later a man was breaking into an apartment, so he joined him...

”Never again” by Joanna Wiaterek

I wanted to fly like birds, but everybody was saying it was impossible... I believed them and I got back to my boring, daily life. Sorry, I had to try! I built a machine and rose above my neighbours who were jealous. And now I know, I won’t trust them anymore.

”The problem with icicles hanging on the high-voltage electricity cables in Canada”by Judyta Wojtala

The government organized a brainstorming session to solve the problem. Someone came up with an idea that an angel should fly from the sky and destroy the icicles with its wings. Someone else asked”. Why don’t we use helicopters instead?” Now they use helicopters to destroy the icicles....sure?

”We’ll see” by Tomasz Sobania

- Do you want to play computer games with me?- No, I’ going to the playground now.- It’s cold outside. Are you sure?- Weather doesn’t matter.

He went to the football pitch and was practi-sing even when it started to rain. Now he’s a footballer and his friend’s addicted to com-puters...

”Life” by Bartosz Wojtyczek

A fisherman had a nice family and lived hap-pily near the beach, fishing only for their daily needs. One day he met a businessman who said: „ catch more fish, buy more boats and run a successfull business”. The fisherman asnwered: „Then what?” „ Start a family and live by the beach?”

IB Review /// Our School /// 27

Studying across the world - Expierience at Bruton School,

England Meeting people from many different cultu-res starting obviously with England, through Germany, Spain, Canary Islands, Nigeria up to Hong Kong and Kenia, experiencing real immersion into the British culture and lan-guage, learning things not only in theory but also in practice and discovering new, exciting things every single day for the last three months, have definitely been the best time of my life. A few months ago I decided to join the competition organised by the Bri-tish Alumni Society. After sending in my ap-plication and having a successful interview in Warsaw with the members of the society as well as school head teachers I was de-lighted to hear that Bruton School for Girls offered me a scholarship.

But of course, apart from the happiness and excitement I felt, I was also insecure about how difficult it would be to attend a school like this – it is a school “for girls”, very traditional, located in the countryside in the middle of nowhere. As soon as I arrived I knew that there was nothing to worry about, the surroundings looked absolutely stunning, there were many possibilities of develop-ment, the teachers were kind and patient, the food was delicious, and the girls were very friendly. Staying in a boarding house means that you actually have more time to spend with friends and to meet them you just have to cross a corridor, not the whole city - but of course you can still go out to a pub or cafe if you wish. Living in a place like this, even after those few months is still like a dream.

Obviously there are some things that are really difficult to get used to. Double taps everywhere, people driving on the ”wrong” side of the road, speaking all the time in En-glish, people smiling without any particular reason and drinking an extremely large amo-

unt of tea (just for your information ”milk, no sugar?” is almost a rhetorical question and the answer is always yes) are the ones I found particularly strange at the beginning. But after a while you stop even noticing that they are ”not right” and then back in Poland I keep saying ”goodbye” when I leave and I have to think twice every time I cross the street to look to my right.

Even lessons are an exciting experience. I decided to do three Sciences, Mathematics and French, but besides ”traditional” ones you can also choose things like for instan-ce Psychology, Economics, Art, Philosophy, Photography, ancient Greek or Latin. The classes are really small and we are able to do practical experiments in almost every lesson. For example, last week we observed diffraction of electrons in physics, examined reactivity of different group 1 metals (which involved also several small explosions), dis-sected lungs in biology and went to Bristol University to attend a lecture in French about ethical problems in science and medicine. We also had a teleconference with NASA employees during which we learned more about the difficulties and solving problems of launching rockets into space. Although


just five subjects might seem not that much because each subject is studied in more de-tail, it is actually quite a lot of work. It is, however, without doubt much less stressful as we have hardly any tests: so far I had one test in mathematics, chemistry and physics, and three tests in biology. Our progress in the course is assessed mostly from home-work assignments, which we have to hand in every time we get them, as they are me-ticulously checked by our teachers. The te-achers are also always available and willing to help if you have questions, feel that you did not exactly understand something or just want extra practice on the topic you are go-ing through, but also you can chat with them during lunch and dinner or see them if you have any problem even one not connected at all with the lesson.

The school offers a wide variety of extra--curricular activities, so without doubt every-one can find something suitable. From lots of sports teams - the most popular one is hockey, through speech and drama, deba-ting club, cooking, eco squad, sign language lessons, charity committee, Amnesty Inter-national group up to numerous musical acti-vities like school orchestra or choir. There is no time to get bored here.

Very often we had also other events hap-pening in the school. We had culture week, during which we attended activities like su-shi making, watching a French film or le-

arning Kenian songs. One of the activities was a Polish traditional dancing workshop - me and two other scholars taught all the girls in Sixth Form how to dance the ‚Polo-nez’ - our friends enjoyed it so much that we were asked to organise some more similar activities. During arts week, apart from nu-merous concerts, lectures and exhibitions we had a ”book character day” - this year it had to be a book from the beginning of XX century. The school looked like a fairy tale scene as not only students, but teachers as well were dressed up - you do not often see your teacher dressed as Tinkerbell or the lion from Oz. And if you are here at the right time you may see students in their py-jamas playing Quidditch as well. Doing that was definitely the most unusual but also the most enjoyable PE lesson I have ever had.The scholarships for this year have just been announced: the information about them can be found on the website www.bas.org.pl and on Facebook ‚Stypendia British Alum-ni Society’. If you want to change your life and try something completely different, get excellent education, visit another co-untry, improve your English and experien-ce many wonderful things, this might be a good opportunity to start. All you have to do is give it a chance.

Antonina Kielkowska


THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU GO TO

CHINA

The Great Wall, pandas, the Forbidden City, the ancient history and the oldest traditions and of course the most popular cuisine – these are only some of the endless reasons why China is a must-visit country. That’s why I have decided to tell you why travelling to the ‘Middle Empire’ might not be the best idea.

1.The language barrier –you think that En-glish is a global language? Well… This is actually a photo taken in the heart of Shang-hai, the biggest city in China, but even there the names of the streets are only display-ed in Chinese. If you want to ask for direc-tions, you have to have the address written in Chinese, and the simplified alphabet is still challenging (the majority needs some time to read and understand the characters). Shopping is also an unforgettable experien-ce – trust me, English will get you nowhe-re – you can only rely on your body and sign language (this might seem easy when you want to buy e.g. shampoo – just ask somebody by pointing at your hair or mas-saging your scalp, but imagine how difficult it was for me to ask for help with finding the conditioner!). The same goes for food – once I ordered pancakes, at least I thought I

did because I pointed at the frying pan and the cook put cream, jam, etc. over it. It tur-ned out to be ice cream… but still delicious.

2.The Chinese language – loud, tiring (take into consideration that you’ll listen to it pro-bably 24/7, Chinese cities never sleep) and most importantly – it’s VERY difficult! If you think that you can take some Chinese classes before your trip and then have less trouble with communication, you cannot be more mistaken. Even if you manage to deci-pher some characters, speaking the langu-age without enough practice is a completely different story. Most of the time you’ll end up saying crazy, meaningless stuff like ‘I am a


swimming monkey’ because of the difficult tonal system and the need for a proper ac-cent.

3.The dark side of Chinese cuisine - yes, dog meat is still present at restaurants, just like cat meat.

4.Smog - a day in Beijing is said to be just as harmful as smoking one pack of cigaret-tes. Well, bad news, smokers!

5.Absolutely no respect for natural heritage/religion/other people whatsoever. Children peeing on the streets (even in the city cen-tre). Apart from still ‚trendy’ spitting in public places, littering in UNESCO protected areas. And my favorite – monks and guards in temples stealing sacrificial food (SIC!).

6.You can literally feel that it’s the world’s most populous country – trust me…

7.You’re white and in China that’s not very common, so… prepare to be constantly asked for photos (or to be photographed by those not even willing to ask), approached by strangers that know a few words in En-glish (HELLO, YOU ARE VERY BEAUTIFUL, BYE-BYE). And the best thing is that they are not embarrassed about it – one cleaning lady saw me at lunch and decided to sit in front of me JUST TO WATCH ME EAT. Serio-usly – she spent over 10 minutes staring at me, sitting in front of me, not moving, not saying anything and she wasn’t embarras-sed at all. Well…

Every day is full of adventures and if you like everything to go according to plan without any problems, delays or other changes then you might not have the time of your life, so please - THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU GO TO CHINA.

Karolina Swiatowska

NOTE: This article is not meant to be taken serio-usly! Travelling through China was one of the best trips of my life and I totally recom-mend it to everybody longing for adventure!


The American Dream

Since there are many people consi-dering studying and living in the USA, it is crucial to check whether all of this country’s promises are true. I will try to explain some of the phenomena I encountered during my visit there. The truth is that the USA simply cannot live up to our expectations shaped by the literature, the media or common stereotypes. It is a country of great con-trasts, less uniform than Poland, for example one area of a city is rich and just few meters away there is poverty. The overwhelming di-versity is everywhere to be seen in the quali-ty of everything surrounding you. The most explicit example of this are homeless people on the streets of rich, beautiful downtown areas. Going there do not expect a utopia, at least not everywhere. The first difference I encountered, vi-sible already at the airport, was obesity. The source of this problem is the fact that fast food is cheap in the USA ($10-15 for a meal for 3 people) while regular food is expensi-ve ($50-70 for 3 people). Hence, the lower socioeconomic class suffers the most from obesity. Life in the US is not as easy as it may look. The condition for having a de-cent life is having a job because there are no social security programs similar to these in Europe. On the other hand, well educated people do not usually have such problems and are highly regarded in the American so-ciety. Choosing to start your studies in the US is a decision which will bond you with the country. Most science curriculums differ from those in Europe as well as everyday items like electronic devices or measuring units, for example miles, feet, gallons. This means that a decision to study there is al-most synonymous with staying there. Another aspect worth mentioning is a safety issue. Weapons are legal in the US, so almost every citizen possesses a gun. This creates a psychological effect where everyone knows that everyone owns a lethal

weapon and may not hesitate to use it. Guns are a daily occurrence bought in regular shops. However, while walking the city stre-ets you can see groups of people “hanging around” and often approaching pedestrians with provocative comments. A must see in the USA is the Grand Canyon as well as other natural parks in the area. The natural heritage of this country is overwhelming, with film-like mountains seen for thousands of kilometers in all directions. The United States is a country very different from Poland. The total diversity, sometimes as simple as people’s mentality, will strike you on your first day there. This is the reason why you should try to visit this extraordinary country first and then make up your mind whether you truly want to study there.

Aleksander Kalisz


photo: Aleksander Kalisz

“The Chaos” (of English Pronunciation)! – A poem by Gerard N. Trenité, a.k.a. Charivarius (1870-1946)

This is an amusing poem about the anarchy of the English language, commonly known to cause the state of intensifying enrage-ment and beating - by the end of it you sim-ply want to tear your hair out in frustration! The author himself comments on this poem in the following words:“ I offer the reader a small collection of pho-netical paradoxes. I gave it the form of a “poem”, so that rhyme and rhythm might have a soothing effect on the bewildered le-arner, and lead him into the right path, the former in many cases indicating sound, the latter stress. Thus even-Stephen, senator--spectator. The last line contains an advice; my advice is – don’t take it.”

Have fun!

Gerard Nolst TrenitéThe Chaos

Dearest creature in creationStudying English pronunciation, I will teach you in my verse Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse. I will keep you, Susy, busy,Make your head with heat grow dizzy; Tear in eye, your dress you’ll tear; Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer.Pray, console your loving poet,Make my coat look new, dear, sew it! Just compare heart, hear and heard, Dies and diet, lord and word.Sword and sward, retain and Britain(Mind the latter how it’s written). Made has not the sound of bade, Say-said, pay-paid, laid but plaid.Now I surely will not plague youWith such words as vague and ague, But be careful how you speak, Say: gush, bush, steak, streak, bre-ak, bleak ,Previous, precious, fuchsia, viaRecipe, pipe, studding-sail, choir; Woven, oven, how and low,

Script, receipt, shoe, poem, toe.Say, expecting fraud and trickery:Daughter, laughter and Terpsichore, Branch, ranch, measles, topsails, aisles, Missiles, similes, reviles.Wholly, holly, signal, signing,Same, examining, but mining, Scholar, vicar, and cigar, Solar, mica, war and far.From „desire”: desirable-admirable from „ad-mire”,Lumber, plumber, bier, but brier, Topsham, brougham, renown, but known, Knowledge, done, lone, gone, none, tone,One, anemone, Balmoral,Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel. Gertrude, German, wind and mind, Beau, kind, kindred, queue, mankind,Tortoise, turquoise, chamois-leather,Reading, Reading, heathen, heather. This phonetic labyrinth Gives moss, gross, brook, brooch, ninth, plinth.Have you ever yet endeavouredTo pronounce revered and severed, Demon, lemon, ghoul, foul, soul, Peter, petrol and patrol?Billet does not end like ballet;Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet. Blood and flood are not like food, Nor is mould like should and would.Banquet is not nearly parquet,Which exactly rhymes with khaki. Discount, viscount, load and broad, Toward, to forward, to reward,Ricocheted and crocheting, croquet?Right! Your pronunciation’s OK. Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve, Friend and fiend, alive and live.Is your R correct in higher?Keats asserts it rhymes Thalia. Hugh, but hug, and hood, but hoot, Buoyant, minute, but minute.Say abscission with precision,Now: position and transition; Would it tally with my rhyme If I mentioned paradigm?Twopence, threepence, tease are easy,But cease, crease, grease and greasy? Cornice, nice, valise, revise, Rabies, but lullabies.


Of such puzzling words as nauseous,Rhyming well with cautious, tortious, You’ll envelop lists, I hope, In a linen envelope.Would you like some more? You’ll have it!Affidavit, David, davit. To abjure, to perjure. Sheik Does not sound like Czech but ache.Liberty, library, heave and heaven,Rachel, loch, moustache, eleven. We say hallowed, but allowed, People, leopard, towed but vowed.Mark the difference, moreover,Between mover, plover, Dover. Leeches, breeches, wise, precise, Chalice, but police and lice,Camel, constable, unstable,Principle, disciple, label. Petal, penal, and canal, Wait, surmise, plait, promise, pal,Suit, suite, ruin. Circuit, conduitRhyme with „shirk it” and „beyond it”, But it is not hard to tell Why it’s pall, mall, but Pall Mall.Muscle, muscular, gaol, iron,Timber, climber, bullion, lion, Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair, Senator, spectator, mayor,Ivy, privy, famous; clamourHas the a of drachm and hammer. Pussy, hussy and possess, Desert, but desert, address.Golf, wolf, countenance, lieutenantsHoist in lieu of flags left pennants. Courier, courtier, tomb, bomb, comb, Cow, but Cowper, some and home.Solder, soldier! Blood is thicker”,Quoth he, „than liqueur or liquor”, Making, it is sad but true, In bravado, much ado.Stranger does not rhyme with anger,Neither does devour with clangour. Pilot, pivot, gaunt, but aunt, Font, front, wont, want, grand and grant.Arsenic, specific, scenic,Relic, rhetoric, hygienic. Gooseberry, goose, and close, but close, Paradise, rise, rose, and dose.Say inveigh, neigh, but inveigle,Make the latter rhyme with eagle. Mind! Meandering but mean,

Valentine and magazine.And I bet you, dear, a penny,You say mani-(fold) like many, Which is wrong. Say rapier, pier, Tier (one who ties), but tier.Arch, archangel; pray, does erringRhyme with herring or with stirring? Prison, bison, treasure trove, Treason, hover, cover, cove,Perseverance, severance. RibaldRhymes (but piebald doesn’t) with nibbled. Phaeton, paean, gnat, ghat, gnaw, Lien, psychic, shone, bone, pshaw.Don’t be down, my own, but rough it,And distinguish buffet, buffet; Brood, stood, roof, rook, school, wool, boon, Worcester, Boleyn, to impugn.Say in sounds correct and sterlingHearse, hear, hearken, year and yearling. Evil, devil, mezzotint, Mind the z! (A gentle hint.)Now you need not pay attentionTo such sounds as I don’t mention, Sounds like pores, pause, pours and paws, Rhyming with the pronoun yours;Nor are proper names included,Though I often heard, as you did, Funny rhymes to unicorn, Yes, you know them, Vaughan and Strachan. No, my maiden, coy and comely,I don’t want to speak of Cholmondeley. No. Yet Froude compared with proud Is no better than McLeod.But mind trivial and vial,Tripod, menial, denial, Troll and trolley, realm and ream, Schedule, mischief, schism, and scheme.Argil, gill, Argyll, gill. SurelyMay be made to rhyme with Raleigh, But you’re not supposed to say Piquet rhymes with sobriquet.Had this invalid invalidWorthless documents? How pallid, How uncouth he, couchant, looked, When for Portsmouth I had booked!Zeus, Thebes, Thales, Aphrodite,Paramour, enamoured, flighty, Episodes, antipodes, Acquiesce, and obsequies.Please don’t monkey with the geyser,


Don’t peel ‚taters with my razor, Rather say in accents pure: Nature, stature and mature.Pious, impious, limb, climb, glumly,Worsted, worsted, crumbly, dumbly, Conquer, conquest, vase, phase, fan, Wan, sedan and artisan.The th will surely trouble youMore than r, ch or w. Say then these phonetic gems: Thomas, thyme, Theresa, Thames.Thompson, Chatham, Waltham, Streatham,There are more but I forget ‚em- Wait! I’ve got it: Anthony, Lighten your anxiety.The archaic word albeitDoes not rhyme with eight-you see it; With and forthwith, one has voice, One has not, you make your choice.Shoes, goes, does *. Now first say: finger;Then say: singer, ginger, linger. Real, zeal, mauve, gauze and gauge, Marriage, foliage, mirage, age,Hero, heron, query, very,Parry, tarry fury, bury, Dost, lost, post, and doth, cloth, loth, Job, Job, blossom, bosom, oath.Faugh, oppugnant, keen oppugners,Bowing, bowing, banjo-tuners Holm you know, but noes, canoes, Puisne, truism, use, to use?Though the difference seems little,We say actual, but victual, Seat, sweat, chaste, caste, Leigh, eight, height, Put, nut, granite, and unite.Reefer does not rhyme with deafer,Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer. Dull, bull, Geoffrey, George, ate, late, Hint, pint, senate, but sedate.Gaelic, Arabic, pacific,Science, conscience, scientific; Tour, but our, dour, succour, four, Gas, alas, and Arkansas.Say manoeuvre, yacht and vomit,Next omit, which differs from it Bona fide, alibi Gyrate, dowry and awry.Sea, idea, guinea, area,Psalm, Maria, but malaria. Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean, Doctrine, turpentine, marine.Compare alien with Italian,Dandelion with battalion,

Rally with ally; yea, ye, Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, key, quay!Say aver, but ever, fever,Neither, leisure, skein, receiver. Never guess-it is not safe, We say calves, valves, half, but Ralf. Starry, granary, canary,Crevice, but device, and eyrie, Face, but preface, then grimace, Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.Bass, large, target, gin, give, verging,Ought, oust, joust, and scour, but scourging; Ear, but earn; and ere and tear Do not rhyme with here but heir.Mind the o of off and oftenWhich may be pronounced as orphan, With the sound of saw and sauce; Also soft, lost, cloth and cross.Pudding, puddle, putting. Putting?Yes: at golf it rhymes with shutting. Respite, spite, consent, resent. Liable, but Parliament.Seven is right, but so is even,Hyphen, roughen, nephew, Stephen, Monkey, donkey, clerk and jerk, Asp, grasp, wasp, demesne, cork, work.A of valour, vapid vapour,S of news (compare newspaper), G of gibbet, gibbon, gist, I of antichrist and grist,Differ like diverse and divers,Rivers, strivers, shivers, fivers. Once, but nonce, toll, doll, but roll, Polish, Polish, poll and poll.Pronunciation-think of Psyche!-Is a paling, stout and spiky. Won’t it make you lose your wits Writing groats and saying „grits”?It’s a dark abyss or tunnelStrewn with stones like rowlock, gunwale, Islington, and Isle of Wight, Housewife, verdict and indict.Don’t you think so, reader, rather,Saying lather, bather, father? Finally, which rhymes with enough, Though, through, bough, plough, co-ugh, hough, sough, tough??Hiccough has the sound of cup...My advice is: GIVE IT UP!

Link to a fun version of this ”Chaos”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d--WJEnpVxeA


COOPERATION WITH SCHOOL IMPLEMENTING IB DIPLOMA PROGRAMME

IN RUSSIA.

Last year, our school made contact with the Secondary School No. 10 at the State University of Economics in Perm (Eastern Russia), which is implementing the IB DIPLOMA PROGRAMME.

Initially our relations were mainly in form of pen-friends. However, since January 2015, our pre-IB classes are going to collaborate on a joint project entitled MY CITY - MY REGION - MY SCHOOL.

The project involves exchange of know-ledge about our hometowns, their geo-graphy and history. Students from Perm sent a special article for our magazine with a few accompanying photographs. Everyone interested in finding out more is encouraged to visit the school website at www.hselyceum.perm.ru

On the Russian side the project is co-ordinated by Ms. Maria Dubrowina - IB coordinator in Perm, on the part of our school - Barbara Bialowas - a librarian and a teacher of Russian.

Barbara Bialowas

The Trip to Saint Petersburg

We, 10 crazy people in some way, went to St. Petersburg recently, during the autumn holidays. Who do I mean when I say “we”? - 7 classmates, 2 guys from IB2 and a “sen-sei”, that’s what we call our homeroom te-acher.

The trip was amazing. Everything about it was fantastic! We saw plenty of exhibitions in the museum “Erarta”, and visited different unusual cafes, by unusual I mean they were furnished with eclectic things. We also visi-ted the Hermitage and the place called “Loft Floors” which has panoramic views of the city.

Yes, you may think that it isn’t much for a whole week. However, if we had visited as many sights as possible we wouldn’t re-member any of them, and the information would be all mixed up. Instead, we went to the sights we wanted to see, and experien-ced them with more than just our eyes. I think we “have reached” our goal.

I know each of us will remember this trip; it was the best trip ever with the class. It was as it should have been: a lot of fun, jokes, happiness and memories as well as sha-red experiences and growing together as a class. We have become pretty good friends; we have begun to understand each other without even speaking, though we seemed completely different at the beginning.

We hope our relationship and mutual under-standing will last forever...

Tatyana Kolpakova


Fun Reflection Inspiration

Teacher: “George Washington not only chopped down his father’s cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn’t punish him?”Louie: “Because George still had the axe in his hand.”

...

English Professor„In English,” he said, „A double negative forms a positive. In some languages, tho-ugh, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no langu-age wherein a double positive can form a negative.”A voice from the back of the room piped up, „Yeah, right.”

...

PunctuateA teacher writes on a chalkboard the sen-tence: „A woman without her man is nothing” The teacher then asks the boys to punctuate it properly, and they all write: „A woman, without her man, is nothing” The teacher asks the girls to punctuate it and they write: „A woman: without her, man is nothing”

...

GrandmaLet’s eat Grandma!Let’s eat, Grandma!Punctuation SAVES LIVES!

... Question & AnswerQ: Is there a word in the English language that uses all the vowels including „y” ? A: Unquestionably!


Q: Why does history keep repeating itself ?A: Because we weren’t listening the first time!

Q: Why can you never trust atoms?A: They make up everything!

Q: What is the most important rule in che-mistry? A: Never lick the spoon!

Q: What is a cation afraid of? A: A dogion.

Q: „What letter of the alphabet has got lots of water?” A: „The C”

Q: „What letter of the alphabet is always wa-iting in order?” A: „The Q.

Q: What begins with T, ends with T and has T in it? A: A teapot.

Q: What always sits in the corner but can move all round the world?A: A stamp.

Q: What gets wetter the more it dries?A: A towel.

Q: What did the pencil say to the other pen-cil?A: you’re looking sharp

Q: What do you get when you cross a sno-wman with a vampire?A: Frostbite.

Q: What is the difference between a school teacher and a train?A: The teacher says spit your gum out and the train says „chew chew chew”.

Q: What did Winnie The Pooh say to his agent?A: Show me the honey!

Q: Why can’t your nose be 12 inches long?A: Because then it would be a foot!

Q: How many books can you put in an empty backpack?A: One! After that it’s not empty!

Q: What kind of button won’t unbutton?A: A bellybutton!

Q: What did the triangle say to the circle?A: You’re pointless!

Q: Why is a math book always unhappy?A: Because it always has lots of problems.

Q: Why is 6 afraid of 7?A: Because 7 8 9

Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right path, the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.Anne Frank

You cannot dream yourself into a charac-ter; you must hammer and forge yourself one.Henry David Thoreau

Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.Albert Einstein

You must look into other people as well as at them.Lord Chesterfield

Hear the meaning within the word.William Shakespeare

Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, breathe more, talk less, say more, hate less, love more, and good things will be yours.Swedish Proverb

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on .Robert Frost

The best way out is always through.Robert Frost

To succeed, you have to do something and be very bad at it for a while. You have to look bad before you can look really good. Barbara DeAngelis

Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.John Wooden

Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.Walt Whitman

Your present circumstances don’t determi-ne where you can go; they merely determi-ne where you start.Nido Qubein


IB Review /// 39

I would like to thank everyone who helped create this year’s IB Review. It was a long-lasting task, but we fulfilled everything we wanted to. We had good and bad mo-ments. We were working hard and relaxing at the same time. Although this issue has reached its end, the new skills everyone le-arned and the memories of doing it together will be forever in our minds. Once more, thank you VERY MUCH!

Michal NawrockiEditor and leader of the Design

Cover art done by Katarzyna Tomczuk.

Every image in this magazine belongs to its cre-ator. The usage of those images in this magazine was accepted by every creator.

ib review gliwice 2015

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