Don't Miss the Patra's Carnival, by Helen

The Carnival is just round the corner! So, in order to signal the beginning of the Carnival time, one of our B Senior students, Helen, wrote a few things about the Greek customs and traditions associated with this  celebration. 


Every year in Patra there is a carnival. It's the greatest and the most famous carnival in Greece. People of every age group take part in the carnival events. There are carnival balls, masqued balls and parties at home, in neighbourhoods, clubs, cafeterias and restaurants.

The most spectacular event is the Ground Parade. It begins at around 2 pm on the Sunday before Clean Monday with many satirical floats, each one with a specific theme. The costumes are designed to suit each theme. Around 33-4.000 people take part in the parade and dance to the rhythm of the music played by the band.

Christmas in the UK - Our Poster

Our goal this month was to introduce pupils to some key vocabulary and a few fun facts about how Christmas is celebrated in the UK. What better way to achieve this than by decorating our classroom with a related poster! 

This way, students not only get to expand their vocabulary through visual prompts, but they also familiarise themselves with the British customs and traditions associated with this special celebration.

Did you know...? Click to enlarge.

Labelled pictures.

British history, customs and traditions in relation to Christmas. Click to enlarge.

Halloween mini-event

In Knock English we consider it imperative that students be acquainted with certain aspects of the culture of the foreign language they are learning. In other words, language instruction is not our sole purpose; we seize every single opportunity to raise our students' cultural awareness!

Below are some snapshots of the students' brief introduction to the Halloween celebration. 
  

Halloween decorations everywhere.

Our cute Jack O' Lantern.

Posing all together with our Jack O' Lantern masks.

Playing around in front of the camera minutes after the end of the lesson.

Having a blast!

Μέρος της φιλοσοφίας του Knock English είναι η επιτακτική ανάγκη τα παιδιά να γνωρίσουν κάποιες πτυχές της κουλτούρας της ξένης γλώσσας που μαθαίνουν. Με άλλα λόγια, η εκμάθηση της γλώσσας δεν είναι ο αποκλειστικός μας σκοπός. Παράλληλα προσπαθούμε να αξιοποιήσουμε κάθε μικρή ευκαιρία που μας δίνεται έτσι ώστε αυξήσουμε την πολιτιστική συνείδηση των μαθητών μας.

Παραπάνω είναι μόνο μερικά στιγμιότυπα από την μικρή εισαγωγή των μαθητών στον εορτασμό του Halloween. 

Greek superstitions, by Christine