English – Page 5 – Lingva English Café

To be honest, up until recently I have never really liked living in Valjevo. I have always compared it to bigger cities such as Belgrade and Novi Sad and how they have better standard of living and more things to do.

However, as the time passed and I got older and “wiser”, I realized that I am pretty lucky to live here. I was so focused on bad things we have to cope with that I completely forgot the good things, which, by the way, there is plenty of. The city isn’t overcrowded and you don’t have to put up with too much noise. There are a lot of parks where you can relax and do whatever you please. Also, there are tennis courts and a swimming center called “Petnica”. We have one of the least polluted rivers in the whole Serbia, the river Gradac, which is one the most favourite places among younger population to spend time during hot summer days. Lately, a lot of main streets in Valjevo have been renewed so the center of the city looks really nice now.

All in all, I think I am pretty lucky to live in a town like this and I should enjoy every moment I spend here because soon, when I another city for university studies, I won’t be visiting Valjevo that often.

15 Nov

The Big Clean-up Campaign! – by Katarina Savic

Last weekend our college’s principal organised a clean-up campaign in which, you might have noticed, the majority of students took part voluntarily. You may have also observed that since the campaign has been organised the college looks much cleaner. Does that mean that the clean-up day was a success?

It all started when the principal saw her college was turning into a real mess, so she decided to change something about it! She gathered a group of people, advertised the campaign and everyone felt really enthusiastic about it.

On the day itself, quite a big group of people gathered and bags for trash and rubber gloves were distributed. Everyone had fun while cleaning and talking to friends and to sum it up there was a free buffet supper for everyone in the evening.

The principal also introduced a few policies for everyone to follow – some of which were a bit absurd. The thing that caught my eye the most are the fines for littering. They are really too high for the student standard and should be reduced. On the other hand, extra bins have been put and they had art students paint them so that everybody now enjoys throwing rubbish away. One of the most popular policies is the ban on smoking, and surprisingly even the ones who smoke like it because the college looks really neat now.

Finally, the only bad thing about the campaign were the advertising leaflets! They were all over the place. But I believe now that students’ environment consciousness has been raised there will be a significant decline in littering, and that is why I declare the clean-up day a success!

Assignment from Advanced Expert CAE

08 Nov

MUST SEE AND FEEL … Assignment

Gradac Gorge

Imagine that you work for a travel agency and that your boss has asked you to make promotional flyers for some beauty spots, cultural monuments or other specific tourist offers in and around Valjevo. The series of flyers titled “Must See and Feel …“ is planned to include the following attractions:

Greening along the River Gradac

Promenading round Pecina Park

Roughing It in Valjevo Mountains

Hikers Paradise on Divcibare

History Makers of Valjevo

Valjevo between East and West

Wildflower Trails of Valjevo

Love for Art in Valjevo

Village Treats round Valjevo

Breezy Summer Camps in Valjevo

1. Decide which topic you are going to cover and make a plan for your writing. Think about some general information and the most popular features that would attract large numbers of visitors. This example will help you in your planning:

Must See and Feel … River Gradac

2. Write the text and illustrate it with suitable photographs.

3. Embed your flyers in Lingva WP blog.

4. Have a look at other people’s flyers. What do you like about them? Is there anything that could be improved? Write your feedback in the comments section.

21 Oct

Ayers Rock Tour, Australia – by Ivan Beljic

Uluru Sunset, by Prince Roy

To the Editor

I am writing concerning the commentary on the Anangu opposition to tourism development in Uluru in the local paper cutting I received from an Australian friend. I want to express my disagreement with the criticism expressed. In my opinion we all should respect Anangu people and their tradition.

The Anangu people who have been there over 20,000 years call Ayers Rock as Uluru. It is their sacred site to which they are so attached that they never climb it and that is why they do not like when tourists do that. On the other hand, everybody realises that they benefit from tourism, and it is in their interests to increase visitor number to the rock. I think this can be solved by involving controlled tourism, which will ban climbing, but at the same time provide more seasonal work around the site and education to visitors.

I suggest that there is better cooperation between the goverment and the Anangu. To achieve this, the Culture Centre should have more jointly organised activities such as: educating visitors about aspects of the Anangu culture and explaining the spiritual importance of the area to their people. Visitors to Uluru are currently 400,000 a year. This is low compared with many other National Parks, and numbers could be increased. That is why Anangu should have a greater role in promotion, because then more profit will go to them.

All in all, the local people are right when they ask for a ban on climbing and for more control in tourism. I believe that this is the only way how this problem could be solved to make both sides satisfied.

Assignment from Advanced Expert CAE

09 Oct

SLOW AND FAST CITY LIFE IN VALJEVO by Marko Lazic

Are we lucky or unlucky to live in a relatively peaceful city?

Tesnjar by Lj.Ljiljak

Although Valjevo is one of bigger cities in Serbia you can still say that it’s a peaceful city.

The best thing about Valjevo is that there are not many people living in the town’s centre, and that is where the beauty of Valjevo lies. Pople like to linger there in cafes after their work.

Tešnjar is another good place to relax owing to its interesting architecture, in which old crafts and small shops are still preserved although the local government prefers to subsidise big supermarket chains. All these old houses, quiet streets and small shops make Valjevo one of most peaceful cities in our country, and we should be happy because of that.

Pople are always complaining that there are not many things to do in Valjevo but I think that in most cases they should blame themselves.