Character reference

I must say that I am honored to write you a recommendation letter for my niece, Maria Ivanovic. Since being my pet in a family, I hope this letter will not be too ­­­­­non objective.

I have known Maria since she was a baby, because I had to baby-sit her, when I had been a graduate student. In that time she was a very quiet child and was not a problem to anyone. Being her babysitter was very pleasant task. She was always eager to learn trough games and very cruise. That sort of games she applied in her further life, trough taking care of her cousins, since coming from a large family.

Maria is a dedicated graduate student of Faculty of Sport and in a spare time, during the winter, she is also a skating instructor. So her experience with children is enormous. Being the skating instructor, made her very considerate, she always must take good care of her students, on a slippery ice. Because sometimes injures can occur to children she teaches, she has an excellent knowledge of providing first aid. With children she is very patent, creative and attentive. I can confirm, from my experience with my children, she could not be more thoughtful and caring, but also knowledgeable for millions of questions children attend to ask.

I regret to say anything negative about Maria, but sometimes she can be very bossy and strict with children, but I think that can have a positive side to upbringing. The only weakness is sometimes she can be sloppy, but if she has been given a scheduled task about work around the house this would not be a problem.

I believe that Maria is the best applicant. I can assure you, she will do an excellent job. This opportunity will give her a boost for a further education, because work with children is her future.

YALS Literary Competition

A Film Review

''The last man on earth is not alone'' says the tagline of the Will Smith's newest film entitled I Am Legend, directed by Francis Lawrence, who before this project spent more time directing music videos for famous pop stars such as Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez.. This masterpiece is the real contrariety to a newer film called Doomsday 2012, signed by quite unknown director Nick Everhart who only recently started off in film industry by assisting on some low-budget projects.
I Am Legend tells the story of a middle-aged former military scientist, living alone in New York after a vaccine supposed to cure cancer turned into lethal virus which mutated and annihilated majority of mankind. He struggles, not only to find a cure but also to defend himself from Dark Seekers – deadly creatures made by the mutation. On the other hand, plot for Doomsday is taken from a well known ''prophecy'' fortold by the ancient Mayas more than 1000 years ago, announcing that the apocalypse will come on 21. december 2012. The main part is dedicated to several people felt that they should go to Mayan temple on Yuccatan penninsula to stop the armagedon, which is really uninventive and infantile in my oppinion.
Excluding the great story, I Am Legend was implemented by new-generation special effects, and the way of filming is stunning which proves that director is a real talent. I was particuraly impressed with the intro scene which shows the ''Big Apple'' completely empty and owerflown with plants and fierce animals. On contrary, effects in Doomsday are rather poor and substandard, just like the acting which is uninspired, and word horrible isn't strong enough io describe it.
Finally, taking into account both budget and cast, if you had to choose between these two, I am confident you would have no doubt, as this could be freely described as the ''battle between David and Goliath'' with a slight difference – Goliath is the absolute winner here.

by Stefan Kostic

Character Reference

Tom Hutton is definitely one of my best friends, and I have known him ever since. Our parents are also very good friends so we started getting together as soon as we were born. After that we went together to primary school, and now we are in the same high-school, but unfortunately in different classes.
From the early ages Tom was extremely helpful person, and I remember he always helped me to tidy my room. Nowdays, if we accidentaly get in some kind of trouble, he always knows what we should do. This is the proof that Tom is quite sensible and that he perfectly knoes how to behave in different situations. I always remember him to be pretty talkative and friendly – he is able to make friends even with shop-assistants and he really gets on with his mail-man.
Tom is extremely good with children, and as he loves football very much, he often takes children from his neighbourhood to playground where he teaches them some new football techniques. Something that is even more important to mention is that he shows them not only football skills, but also teaches them not to cheat and to be honest and good. His patience also helps him in this work, and he told me several times, that unlike the majority, he enjoys answering to childrens silly questions.
Last summer, he worked as an assistant in the local kindergarten what proved to be valuable experience. It is also worth mentioning that Tom's parents work very much, and he is used to doing everything in the house, so some light domestic work would be no problem to him.
I really think you should seriously consider Tom's application as he has enough skills and experience needed for this job, and he would also be over the moon if he got it.

Stefan Kostic

Character reference by M. Petric

I have known Aleksandra for five years, both as a colleague and as a friend. We first met at the one-month computer course in Belgrade. Since then we have seen each other a couple of times accidentally, but then we met again when we applied for a teacher's job in a local kindergarten. We were both hired so working together for the past three years made us really close friends.


Aleksandra always gives the impression that she knows what she is doing. That helped her in her studies and her job. She has always proved herself to be extremely dedicated to her work, truly reliable, hard-working and punctual. She even comes at work half an hour earlier which is extraordinary. As a colleague she is very nice, friendly and polite.

With children, she is marvelous. She knows exactly how they think and behave in the same way so she is very liked and respected by them. Also, she knows how to handle some unexpected situations very well, for example some children's fights. Furthermore, she always baby sit her niece or neighbour’s children when she has time.


I regret having to say anything negative about her, but sometimes when she has some personal problems, she allows it to affect her job. Then she tends to be sad and does not show a lot of enthusiasm for playing with children. In these rare occasions, all our colleagues and me succeed to cheer her up and put the smile back on her face very quickly.

I believe that it is clear from the job description that the post would suit Aleksandra enormously and that she would undoubtedly do an excellent job. I definitely have no reservations in supporting her application.

YALS Literary Competition

Dear Lingva Achievers,

Once again, YALS Association of Language Schools of Serbia is organising a literary competition, inviting applicants at this level of proficiency to submit their papers on the following topic:

An international student magazine regularly features a page called "Contrasts". Write a review for this page contrasting two films of the same genre which you have seen; one of which you enjoyed, and one of which you found disappointing.

Write your review in about 250 words. The submission deadline is April 11, and the winners names will be announced on April 18. The winners will be awarded books in English .

Mira

SET WRITING ASSIGNMENTS 1 - CHARACTER REFERENCE

Dear Lingva Achievers,

Your writing in the spring term 2008 will follow the set assignments. You will first post your draft, to which I will respond by posting 'to-be-corrected' hints (bold or underline formatting), then you will make self-correction, and at the end I will send the final correction.

Your first assignment is to write a character reference for a friend of yours, who wants to apply for an au pair job in an English-speaking country. Include the information about your relationship with the applicant and how long you have known him/her, as well as relevant details about her/his character and personal qualities, attitude to children and any relevant skills and experience.

Pic by STRIATIC