Monday, 26 November

Hello all,

First of all, I found out why the Americans have not been writing to the forum: last week was Thanksgiving! I completely forgot. It's one of the most important holidays in the United States and one for which everyone goes home to their families. The day before Thanksgiving is the most-travelled day of the year! It's also the first break the students have had since starting school at the beginning of September. How silly of me, as an American, to forget.

Their teacher, Virginia, tells me that she's going to have her students post to the forum today in class. So, before we give up on the Americans, let's see if they respond to your questions and pose new ones by Wednesday. OK? In class today we might also reflect on what the differences are as greater participation in Italy always tends to be the case in exchagnes.

Today, we're going to continue discussing culture. If you're in front of a computer, click here to access a reading. If not, I've got photocopies. This is the task:
1 - as a class we'll choose 5-7 countries we feel we know enough about to compare;
2 - carefully read the two pages trying to grasp what the 5 dimensions are all about;
3 - in groups try and classify the countries we've chosen according to the dimensions;
4 - go to the website to find out if you were right or not;
5 - discuss the results you find on the website.

Sarah