Translators of Unfamiliar Languages

Choose one word from the list below that catches your attention. Then try to think what it means )of course you don't need to guess correctly - that's the point :)). Then translate the word into English, giving an extended definition and examples of use. Afterwards, you can check the meaning in an on;ine translator.

If you do this task with me in the classroom, I'll give you a copy of a short text in Dannish from a book of short short stories and invite you to make a translation based purely on your assumptions and feelings. Finally, you'll be given an English translation of the piece.

Husundersøgelse

Læsning

Blomsterbutik

Nat

Snørebånd

Appelsin

Magritte

Prøverum

Skyer

Lukketid

Bog

Fødselsdag

Ost

Indsamling

Skjorte

Trin

Hemmelight

Sagførere

Mælk

Skumring

Opmåling

Tallerken

In Search of an Animal or a Plant

One of the main reasons why we, human beings, are in such trouble nowadays is that we have walked too far from our natural surroundings.

And so, let's try to get back, or get closer.

Choose an animal or a plant, and see where it takes you.

You can follow one or more of these prompts:

1. Do small research online and describe the animal or the plant. 

How does it look? Where does it live? How does it spend its day? What does it do at night?

Write a short article about it.

2. What traits do you admire in your chosen creature? Are you similar to it, or different? If you could use its example, how would that change your life?

3. What is its symbolic meaning?

4. Write a story or a fairy-tale with this creature in it. Or, describe a dream.

5. If you have or had this animal or plant at home, write about your life together. Or, share a particular story.

6. If this creature could speak, what would it say to humankind?

Good luck!

An Email Written With Winter On Your Mind

                            Simply speaking, write an email to a friend including a piece of winter.

In Dialogue with Szymborska

Choose one poem by Wisława Szymborska. Then follow one suggestion:

* Translate the poem

* Translate the mood of the poem, or an idea you find inspiring but come with a different set of images or a different story

* Pick a line and write your own text using it as a starting point; or, place the line anywhere within the text

* Pick a few lines from any given poem and create a new one using them

* Use some words or lines from any of her poems and create a collage

If Szymborska's poetry is not your cup of tea, but you have another poet whose poems you admire, go for their poem and follow one of the above options.

Banksy Meets Greta Thunberg

Image Greta Thunberg and Bangsy meet. 

Do they stumble upon one another just walking down - or up - some street in some European city? 

Do they recognise one another during some public event?

Do they arrange to meet up to discuss important issues of the world at large? 

Or, are they introduced to one another by someone who knows both of them?

Write about the meeting, including possible dialogues.

You can experiment with any other pair of (eccentric) famous people.

An Art Exhibition

Visit an exhibition of your choice. Or, walk around our school and pick a painting / let one painting draw your attention.

After choosing one painting - or being chosen by it, jumpt to task 1:

1. Describe the painting / picture. Why have you chosen it?

You can talk to a partner or make a note.

Now choose at least one task from the list below. If you choose 2, it's enough to choose a, b or c.

2. Write a story in which

a) you suddenly get / got inside the painting;

b) you meet / met the author or someone else and have / had a conversation concerning  the painting or its theme;

c) something happens to the picture, the author, or the onlookers.

3. Describe the painting using all the senses    (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch),       including the sixth sense.

4. Imagine the elements of the picture can      talk to each other and/or to you. Write a text including these dialogues.

5. Treat the painting as an onset of a dream. Describe the dream.

No violence, sex, sex abuse, drugs or racism in the stories, please. No bad language, either. 

Thx

Exploring Explorers

Choose from a wide group of explorers of all times and places, people well-known or totally obscure. Then let the wider audience learn some amazing details from their lives and explorations.

Prepare a presentation or a speech.