Sunday, July 31, 2011

Report.

In this post I will be writing a report about a library.

To: Mr Springfield
From: Stergios Mavrikakis
Subject: Making the library more popular.

Introduction
In this report I will make some recommendations about how to make the library more popular with young people in your area.

The library as it is now
At the moment the library has a lot of problems.One of the problems is that there is a limited range of books.Also, the librarians are very unhelpful and sometimes they do not even answer your questions.To make matters worse, the chairs are very uncomfortable and some of them are broken. The library is very dark and sometimes it is even hard to read.Finally, the library is not well painted and it is not clean at all.

What teenagers enjoy
The things that teenagers enjoy are detective books,comics,or romantic stories . Also teenagers may need books in different languages for example in Greek and in English.In addition to that,teenagers may need a computer room for people that do not have Internet access and want to do some research.

Recommendations 
I believe the things that the library needs in order to become more popular are: Firstly, it should be well-light, spacious and have comfortable chairs.Secondly, it should have a wide range of books.Also the library has to be in a peaceful place and quiet for the people to read.The old librarians who where unhelpful should be replaced with new friendly and helpful librarians.Finally, it would be a good idea if the library had a computer room for research.I hope my suggestions helped .


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

One of my favorite songs.

This is a video of one of my favorite songs Feed the machine from the band Red.I really like the music of the song and the lyrics.I found it in youtube while I was searching for other songs from this band.I love this song and I hope you'll like it too.

A frightening video

This video is a very scary video. I have showed it to most of my friends, and they all said that it was one of the most scary videos they have ever seen. I agree with them, I haven't seen such a frightening video again. I found it on youtube, while I was watching at a horror movie's trailer.I hope you will enjoy it.

Some of my favourite songs

I like a lot of songs, but all of them belong to dance music, like the songs I've put below. I don't like a specific singer or band. I like many different electro, tecktonk, house and techno songs. Here are some of the songs I really enjoy listening:

 Ocean's Four Feat. Adam Clay - Beautiful Life

This is one of my favourites. It's really nice.I mostly like it because of its wonderful music.

DEV - Bass Down Low ft. The Cataracs

This is also one of my favourite songs. It's popular because it is a great song with brilliant music and lyrics.

Monday, July 25, 2011

What I like and what I dislike about my town.

In this post I will talk about my hometown Heraklion and the things that I like or dislike about it.

What I like about my hometown Is that it's lively because of the people that walk on the streets and talk to each other.I also like that my town has alot of sights where you can visit. What I dislike about my hometown Is that It doesn't have a lot of greenerey or parks and it's also quite polluted.I wish there were a lot of parks for the children to play or public basketball courts courts or public tennis courts.Things that don't even exist.I wish there where more of these things that would make children's life much more fun.

Formal letter (reply to a newspaper)

Dear Sir,

I read your article about traffic, one of the worst problems of a big city.I totally agree with your statements. There is a large number of cars in the streets, and that is indeed a very serious problem which must be solved immediately.

To make matters worse, the traffic lights usually do not work, so there is a complete chaos in the streets. Also, at night, people usually use their car to get to the centre of the city.As a result of the countless cars on the roads, there is air pollution and there is not enough parking space.

In my opinion, there are two important solutions for the problem of traffic; Firstly, every family should have only one car. Another car is not very useful. Secondly, people should use the bicycle more. It is cheaper, small and environmentally friendly.

I think everyone should own a bicycle, and use it, of course! I hope my ideas prove useful.

Yours faithfully,
Minas Papadakis

Futurists

In this post I want to talk about the subject of futurists that we discussed in today's lesson.

So here is some information that I found in a site about this subject:

The terms most commonly refer to authors, consultants, organizational leaders and others who engage in interdisciplinary and systems thinking to advise private and public organizations on such matters as diverse global trends, plausible scenarios, emerging market opportunities and risk management.

The Oxford English Dictionary identifies earliest use of the term futurism in English as 1842, to refer, in a theological context, the Christian eschatological tendency of that name. The next recorded use is the label adopted by the Italian and Russian futurists, the artistic, literary and political movements of the 1920s and 1930s which sought to reject the past and fervently embrace speed, technology and, often violent, change.

Visionary writers such as Jules Verne, Edward Bellamy and H.G. Wells were not in their day characterized as futurists. The term futurology in its contemporary sense was first coined in the mid-1940s by the German Professor Ossip K. Flechtheim, who proposed a new science of probability. Flechtheim argued that even if systematic forecasting did no more than unveil the subset of statistically highly probable processes of change and charted their advance, it would still be of crucial social value.[1]

In the mid-1940s the first professional "futurist" consulting institutions like RAND and SRI began to engage in long-range planning, systematic trend watching, scenario development, and visioning, at first under WWII military and government contract and, beginning in the 1950s, for private institutions and corporations. The period from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s laid the conceptual and methodological foundations of the modern futures studies field. Bertrand de Jouvenel's The Art of Conjecture in 1963 and Dennis Gabor's Inventing the Future in 1964 are considered key early works, and the first U.S. university course devoted entirely to the future was taught by futurist Alvin Toffler at The New School in 1966.[2]

More generally, the label includes such disparate lay, professional, and academic groups as visionaries, foresight consultants, corporate strategists, policy analysts, cultural critics, planners, marketers, forecasters, prediction market developers, roadmappers, operations researchers, investment managers, actuaries and other risk analyzers, and future-oriented individuals educated in every academic discipline, including anthropology, complexity studies, computer science, economics, engineering, evolutionary biology, history, management, mathematics, philosophy, physical sciences, political science, psychology, sociology, systems theory, technology studies, and other disciplines.

Futurology

Futurology or "futures studies" is often summarized as being concerned with "three Ps and a W," or possible, probable, and preferable futures, plus wildcards, which are low-probability but high-impact events, should they occur. Even with high-profile probable events, such as the fall of telecom costs, the growth of the internet, or the aging demographics of particular countries, there is often significant uncertainty in the rate or continuation of a trend. Thus a key part of futuring is the managing of uncertainty and risk.

PHONE CALL IN A HAUNTED HOUSE

As soon as the phone rang, she knew something was wrong. Emily answered, and then a strange scary voice shouted;"Get out of my house!". Emily started to panic.She had to find her ball which had fallen into that old house and leave immediately.

But then, she thought that it was a joke by her friends and breathed a sigh of relief. She got in front of the window and asked her friends if they had played this joke on her, but they swore it wasn't them.

After that she asked herself who it was."Was it a joke or was the phone call by a ghost?"she thought.She tried to investigate the phone.

To her surprise, the phone was too old and broken, so she thought to her self"How could it ring like an ordinary phone?". Finally, she noticed that the phone was not plugged in! She tried to get out of the house, but the door was locked... Then, her friends heard shouts and screams. From that day on, they didn't see Emily again...

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Reply to article.

Dear Sir

I am writing this letter to reply to an article on the newspaper about traffic.


I totally agree with you.I have a lot of problems, especially when I go to school. I cannot arrive in my lesson in time.I am usually late because we get stuck in traffic.

Another way to get stuck in traffic is when you go to the town center,especially at the weekends.Also, there is traffic congestion when it is raining because all the people return from places they were by car in order not to get wet.Finally, traffic can be an important problem when you drive at noon because everyone returns from their jobs and the children return from school.

Therefore, a solution that I want to suggest is to use the means of public transport more.This will help the environment because not everyone will be using their own car and it will help us, too, as we will not pay for petrol.Another solution is to commute by bike. In particular, people that cannot afford to buy a car can buy a bike which is much cheaper.

I hope my ideas prove useful and we can finally solve the problem of traffic.

Yours faithfully
Stergios Mavrikakis

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Story.

A threatening call

As soon as the phone rang,she knew something was wrong.It was a usual Friday afternoon for Sue.She was preparing dinner as she always does in the afternoon,but suddenly the phone rang. It was a man with a strange voice who said to Sue, 'Give me all the money that you have and I will not hurt you'.

After Sue heard the man's words, she was very frightened and hung up the phone.She was terrified and scared so she decided to call her friend John.She told him about the threatening call and asked him if he could come to her house to spend the night.

Although he thought it was just a joke, John decided to go to Sue's house to spend the night.While John was sleeping on the couch and Sue on her bed the man that had phoned Sue broke into the house quietly from the kitchen's door.He searched for money in the kitchen, but he didn't find anything there.Then he walked in the living room where John was sleeping.He searched for money there too,but he hadn't seen John into the dark.John heard him while he was searching for money and woke up.

When John woke up surprised by the noise, he saw the thief .He hit him with a vase and the thief passed out.John sighed with relief and woke up Sue.Sue couldn't believe her eyes,and told John that she was glad that she had invited him to spend the night at her house.After that, they called the police together and they told them to come as soon as possible.When the police came, it was morning already and after they took the thief away, everything was alright again.

Review about a concert

2 days ago Tiesto gave a concert in my town, Heraklion. The concert took place to "Pagrition" stadium. It was flooded with people that day, almost all seats were taken because Tiesto has never come to Crete before.

Tiesto was perfect. The music was so beautiful because he is a very talented and experienced dj. The lights and the sound effects made the concert more interesting. The audience was enjoying the well-played music quietly, and whenever a song finished, they were clapping and some fans were shouting.Generally, the atmosphere in the stadium was great.

There were, however, some disadvantages of the concert; for instance, the sound system.It was so old, that the audience couldn't hear clearly. Also, the tickets were too expensive, and last but not least, the noisy fans were annoying the audience.

I would thoroughly recommend Tiesto. I am sure you will enjoy it if you go and see him.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Saturday, July 16, 2011

An e-mail to Pam


Dear Pam

Thanks for your last e-mail. I'm glad you had a great time in my housewarming party. I'm writing to answer your questions.


After the party there was only chaos in the house: the tables were full of cans, glasses and boxes of pizza, and on the floor there were spilled drinks and glass from a broken glass. My parents weren't there, so I had to vacuum and tidy up alone.Regarding the photos, I'd like you to give me two of copies: the in which I'm with john in front of the window, and the other one, in which everyone is in.

Concerning your diary, I'll give it to you on Saturday. You asked me what I'd like to do in your party. I'd love to admire your new house. As for games, we can play the same games we played in my housewarming party. Also, we can explore your new neighbourhood.

I look forward to visiting your new house. I hope you'll like it, and let me know if any problem comes up.

Yours,
Minas

Friday, July 15, 2011

summer adventure

Three years ago, my father and I went on a trip to a lake called "Gergeri".After we enjoyed looking at the beautiful scenery and taking a lot of pictures, we got in our old car to return home.

As I said before, our car was actually too old. So, while my dad was driving, he smelt a strange smell like fire. Then, we saw smoke given off from the car! After that, we stopped and my father tried to fix it, but it was too difficult... So, we were in the middle of nowhere and there was no signal on our mobile phones.

After 20 minutes, we decided to leave our car and find a village or a town. We were thirsty because of the very hot weather and a bit hungry. We found a church, but unfortunately it didn't have a fountain.

We had been searching for about an hour when we finally found a village.We drank a lot of water and ate some food. There was signal, then, for our mobile phones, so we called my uncle and asked him to come and finally he came and we got home.From now on, I won't get into an old car again!!!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

summer story!

This is a story of one of our summer experiences.This story is not real.

On the sixth of July in 2009 I was on holidays in Athens with my family and some of our friends.

The fourth day of our stay in the hotel, while we were having breakfast I noticed that my favorite band was staying in this hotel too.When I finished my breakfast, I went to their table and asked them for an autograph.All four members of the band gave me an autograph and I was so excited that they asked me if one day I wanted to play guitar with them. I answered that it would be great if they had free time after the breakfast.Then they said that they did not have anything else to do.

After the breakfast I went to my room and took my guitar.I ran at their bedroom and we started playing the guitar.We had a really good time and I talked with all the groups of the band.They told me that they would come to Greece again after 2 years and I was looking forward to their new concert.After two hours I finally left their room.

I really had a great time and I think I was so lucky to stay in the same hotel that my favorite band was staying in.

review!



Subkulture's concert took place in Pangrition stadium on 5th December of 2010.All my friends and I as well as lots of other people went there.The concert started at half past eight but we arrived at nine o'clock, so all the seats were taken.

I liked almost everything about the concert but I really enjoyed the atmosphere which was amazing all the fans were screaming and dancing and the lights and the special effects were amazing.I had never seen something like this in my life.Also the sound system was brilliant.Some of my friends said that it was ear-splitting, but I disagree. I think it was great.

The only thing that was really annoying in the concert was that some people from the audience were throwing coca cola cans on our heads.At least no one was hurt.

In conclusion I thoroughly recommend anyone to attend a concert of Subkulture. It was just an amazing experience.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

What about sports?

Don't you just love sports?

I have had basketball lessons for 3 years,swimming lessons for 2 years and the last 3 years i'm having tennis lessons.I really love tennis i watch all the matches and the grand slams and especially Roland Garros and Wimbledon.My favorite tennis player is Gael Monfils who is the number seven in the world right now and i would really like to be like him one day.Of course i never forget the other sports like basketball which i play almost every day with my friends.

I hope you enjoy sports too.So if you do like sports say which sports do you like in the comments :)

Favorite movie !

In this post i will tell you about my favorite movie and the kind of movies that i like watching.

My favorite movie is.......I don't really have a favorite movie either so i will just tell you about a couple or a few of them.
One of my favorite movies is Harry potter and the half blood prince.I have watched all the Harry potter movies and i have most of them in DVDs.In this movie something really terrible happens that i think made all of us sad :/ Dambledore dies :( but it was still an amazing movie.

Another very good movie in my opinion is The Pirates Of Caribbean On Stranger Tides. I think it was one of the best movies in the series of pirates of Caribbean because of all the new characters and the new places that Jack Sparrow goes with Penelope Cruz in his side and Blackbeard with his crew.

Check these movies out I hope you find them interesting too :)

My music preferences!! :)

So this is a few things that i want to say about my favorite music and my favorite song :)

I really love rock music and metal but i can listen to any type of music except traditional..
When i was younger i wasn't really listening that much to music i just liked it.I really started listening music every day when i have free time when i started playing the guitar.

I don't really have a favorite song but i really love a few and i listen to them all day long :D so here are some links.If you want check them out!~~~>
3.I don't even know how this song is called but if you don't want to see the video just open an other window and do something else :/


E-mail time :)

This is another piece of homework and particularly a composition to a friend.


Dear Pam

Thank you for your email.I'm glad you had a good time in my housewarming party.The reason that I'm writing to you is to answer all the questions that you asked me in your last e-mail.

Firstly, you asked me if it was a trouble to clean up the house after the party.To be honest, it was a big trouble to clean the house at midnight by myself, but I managed to finish before four o'clock.Secondly, you asked me which photos I want you to give me.I'd really like the ones that we are diving in my swimming pool. Also I would like the one that Jason tripped and everyone was laughing at him.Another photo that I want you to give me is the one that we are all together.

You also wanted to know if i had found your diary; the answer is yes ! I found it yesterday when I was making my bed- it had fallen under my bedside table.I'll give it to you when I pay you a visit to check out your new house.The good news is that I will visit you very soon! I hope you don't mind if I come tomorrow afternoon. Ohh, I almost forgot! You asked me what I want to do when I come to your new house.It would be fantastic if we could swim in your swimming pool.Another thing that I would really love to do is to see all the new cool stuff and furniture your new house has! You know, I really love doing such things.

Anyway,that's all for now. I can't wait to visit your new house!Let me know if any problem comes up.

Best wishes
Stergios

informal letter

This is the same composition as my classmate's one.An informal letter to a penfriend:

Dear David

As for my personal details, I'm Minas and I'm at the same age as you.I live in Heraklion, in Greece. Heraklion is the biggest city on Crete.

I live with my parents in a house close to the centre of the town. In Heraklion, there are lots of sights, parks and shops to visit.That's why I like living here, and also because all my friends live there, too.

In my spare time, I love creating songs with a program called "vitrual dj" which I have in my laptop. Also, I like blogging, fishing, painting and now, in the summer, I like snorkelling and exploring the seabed.There are also many things I like doing in my free time which I will explain to you when we meet.

I want to have a penfriend because I would like to improve my English especially my writing skills and also I want to learn more about your country: what you eat, if you have any strange traditions and other similar things.

I look forward to your next letter.

Yours,
Minas

Sunday, July 3, 2011

A piece of homework.

The following is one of my compositions, an informal letter to a penfriend. I hope you find it interesting. :)

Dear David,

I'm Stergios and I'm thirteen years old. I'm glad you wrote to me after you found my profile on the Webpal International site. I come from Greece and I live in Heraklion, the largest city of the island of Crete.

My parents, my older sister and I live on the outskirts of Heraklion, in Danti's street. Our house is quite far from the city centre, but it is only a  five-minute walk from my school. I really enjoy living in Heraklion because all my friends live here and there are many things to do.

When I have free time I really love playing tennis in the local tennis club. Also, two of my favourite activities is to listen to or play music, especially rock music, and play computer games. I really like meeting with my friends and spending time with them, and particularly now that it's summer! We often go to the cinema or to concerts of our favourite bands and we rarely go shopping.

The reason why I want a penfriend is because I would love to learn more about your country. Another more important reason is that I want to learn more about your interests and also that, in this way, I have the chance to practice my English.

Looking forward to your next letter!

Bye,
Stergios.

Music preferences

I couldn't help but wonder what your favourite type of music is! Please write about the groups or singers you mostly listen to and include one link to a YouTube video of them that you like the most!

I am looking forward to your posts! :-)