"We started with Anglia during one of the first years that Anglia was offered in the Netherlands, probably around 1997. Anglia was just offered to our exam students back then. We had 17 students taking exams on different levels. This past year we had 655 students taking an exam at Altena College. All students from every class and every level can participate these days.

Anglia in the upper levels
From grade 4 it is possible for all students to improve their levels.  There are many pupils that try a higher level every year, until they have reached the level they need for their future education. Vmbo(t)-4 pupils can also join, because MBO colleges often take the Anglia level into account, or even exempt successful Anglia candidates from English lessons at the MBO college. From grade 4 Anglia participation is on a voluntary basis and pupils can apply for extra practice. Students that are very good at English use Anglia to show their skills, it is a chance to get an extra international document to confirm their talents.

In this respect Anglia fits perfectly well in the talent policy of the school, especially because everybody can join at the level that suits him or her best. This means for example, that a Vmbo-t 4 pupil can take the Anglia Proficiency Exam at the same time  as a Vwo 6 pupil. Business exams are also popular at our school.

Anglia in havo 3 en atheneum 3
In havo 3 and atheneum 3 Anglia is offered as an extra course for half a year, in addition to the regular English lessons. In this way the important elements of the first 2 years are dealt with again and pupil scan deepen their knowledge. At the end of the lesson series the Anglia Exam is taken in January. Participation in the exams and the lessons is compulsory in havo 3 and atheneum 3. The levels taken are 6 up to 8.

Since 2016-2017 we have started to expand our Anglia Program in the following ways:

Anglia – Elementary school
Children from ‘group 8’ of the elementary schools from all over the region get the opportunity to follow 10 lessons of English at Altena College. The interest for this project is enormous. During our pilot, 110 students signed up. The following year we were able to give 180 students the opportunity to join this program and at the moment we have 216 students participating. The levels vary from level 3 up till level 7. In June we have a festive graduation ceremony where (grand)parents, brothers and sisters are welcome to join the graduate.

The elementary school students are being taught by higher level Altena College students. Those students have taken Anglia exams before and are now part of the A-Team (Anglia-Team). They get a financial reward and a certificate, which they can use in motivation letters for selection procedures in higher education.

Anglia in the first year
From February up to June pupils in the first year follow 10 Anglia lessons. The lessons are taught by teachers of English. Every pupil works at his or her own level, so that they experience an extra challenge or extra support.

Anglia in groups 2 en T3
All pupils in groups 2 en vmbo-t 3 can take part in Anglia on a voluntary basis. This is increasingly popular, because all pupils have already taken part in Anglia in the first year, so they are familiar with it. The puplis can also choose extra lessons.

Plans for the future
The Altena College has the predicate ‘Business School’. The students in havo 5 and atheneum 6 can choose to follow the course ‘Fundamental Accounting’. This year we will offer those students a ‘package deal’. They get a good discount if they follow the accounting course and take an ‘Anglia Business Exam’. We will offer them lessons to prepare themselves for the Anglia exam.

This school year two of our teachers will follow the training to become a Speaking Test examiner. The speaking tests is an extra part of an exam that we would like to offer to our students. We would also like to offer the CITE Exams for our (future) A-team members."

PIE News will always have something for your students to work on. There are puzzles at 3 CEFR levels so you can actively join!

Participants should send their answers to arnold@anglia.nl before 1 December 2018.
Winners will be announced in the next PIE News on 7 December. The winner will get a book at their CEFR level, to be collected at a local bookshop. If there are more participants with the right answer, we will draw a winner.

It is a joyous leap into unexplored worlds,
a laboratory of the imagination,
a chance to free yourself
from the obstacles that prevent you from telling your story.

- Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of NaNoWriMo about his wiritng challenge -

Do you love to write or want to challenge (some) of your students? It’s not yet too late to join the 20th edition of National Novel Writing Month!

National Novel Writing Month celebrates its 20th year of encouraging creativity, education, and the power of the imagination through the largest writing event in the world. This year, NaNoWriMo expects over 400,000 people—including over 95,000 K-12 students and educators on our Young Writers Program website—to start a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. Throughout the month, they’ll be guided by this year’s theme: “NaNoWriMo Is…”

Last year, NaNoWriMo welcomed 394,507 participants, in 646 different regions, on six
continents. Of these, more than 58,000 met their month-long writing goal.

Website: nanowrimo.org

Karin van Eck, English Academy, Roosendaal:
“Some of you might already have picked up a copy or read the 2018 Booker Prize winning novel Milkman.  For those still looking for the next devouring good book or who want a suggestion for their Sinterklaas or Christmas wish list, look no further! Milkman is not an easy read, might make you even feel a bit uncomfortable at times, but this novel set in the early 1970’s in an unnamed Irish city (Belfast) is a literary achievement. It is raw and funny and touching and Anna Burns is a novelist of incredible talent.”

Chair of judges Kwame Anthony Appiah comments:
‘The language of Anna Burns’ Milkman is simply marvellous; beginning with the distinctive and consistently realised voice of the funny, resilient, astute, plain-spoken, first-person protagonist. From the opening page her words pull us into the daily violence of her world — threats of murder, people killed by state hit squads — while responding to the everyday realities of her life as a young woman, negotiating a way between the demands of family, friends and lovers in an unsettled time. The novel delineates brilliantly the power of gossip and social pressure in a tight-knit community, and shows how both rumour and political loyalties can be put in the service of a relentless campaign of individual sexual harassment. Burns draws on the experience of Northern Ireland during the Troubles to portray a world that allows individuals to abuse the power granted by a community to those who resist the state on their behalf. Yet this is never a novel about just one place or time. The local is in service to an exploration of the universal experience of societies in crisis.’

Credits: https://themanbookerprize.com/fiction

Hola! My name is Isabeau, I’m 20 years old and I am an Intern for English Education Group in Roosendaal, the Netherlands. When I was 6 years old my family moved from the Netherlands to Spain. I ended up living there for 8 years before returning to the Netherlands. I lived in Calpe, a town between Valencia and Alicante, mostly known for the rock “Peñon d’Ifach”.

Everything is different in Spain. You start primary school when you are 6 years old and go to secondary school when you are about 12. In the Netherlands, it is normal to go to school when you’re 4 years old. We have a half hour lunchbreak whereas in Spain we had a 3 hour lunchbreak. People in Spain are used to taking a “siesta” (a nap) after lunch. People in Spain eat a hot meal for lunch around 2 pm, and a sandwich for dinner around 9-10 pm. 90% of the kids at my school did not go home but had lunch together in a really large cafeteria. All the food we ate was Spanish and my favourite was Paella Valenciana.
Now that I’m a mom I try to make it every once in a while, when I have the time and energy, to give my son a little taste of the beautiful country that I grew up in. We also go and visit whenever we can to visit family and close friends.

Pour the olive oil in the Paella pan and let it warm up until it starts to smoke. Then, throw the chicken and rabbit meat in the pan and fry on a medium temperature until a brown crust gets visible. Add the vegetables and let stew. After a few minutes, move the meat and the vegetables to the border of the pan, to create room in the centre. Pour the peeled tomatoes in centre and let the broth sit for a few minutes before adding the paprika powder. Than let it stew for a few more minutes on a low temperature, to avoid burning the paprika powder.

Now fill the pan with water up to the border of the pan. Add a pinch of salt and let it boil for 30 minutes. If necessary add more water, but never let the broth get any higher than the handle of the pan. Taste the broth to see if you should add some more salt but keep in mind that the rice will absorb a lot of salt as well. Than you can add the saffron and rice, dividing it evenly throughout the pan. Make sure that all the rice gets covered by the broth.

Let the broth boil for another 7 minutes on high temperatures. Then, on a lower temperature, let it boil for another 4-5 minutes and add the rosemary branches. If there is still a lot of broth left after boiling, leave it for another 5-6 minutes. If not, beware that the paella can burn. In this case you can leave it for 3-4 minutes on a low temperature.  A paella has to boil 14-16 minutes from which 7 on high temperatures.

Let the paella cool down a few minutes before serving. Que Aproveche!

Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation"), or simply the way a particular individual speaks a word or language. Can you make it to the end?

Dearest creature in creation
Studying English pronunciation,

I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse

I will keep you, Susy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.

Tear in eye your dress you'll tear,
So shall I! Oh, hear my prayer,

Pray, console your loving poet,
Make my coat look new, dear, sew it!

Just compare heart, beard and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,

Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it's written).

“My best-kept secret travel tip is in Barcelona and is called the "Maze Park" (Parque del Laberinto).

Parque del Laberinto is the oldest garden in the city and it was designed in 1791 by the owner, Joan Desvalls, Marquis of Llupià and ALfrràs. This truly magic place full of gardens, waterfalls, streams, ponds and canals is  situated in the northern part of Barcelona, away from the busy tourist centre of the city. It shows a mix of styles: Arabic, Mediterranean, Neoclassical and Romantic. During the 19th century its was used for cultural events and for open-air theatre performances.”