Hello everyone,

first of all let me say one big THANK YOU to all people who like this group and decided to join it. Seriously, I didn't expect that soon we will welcome here member number 100 :-) Should we somehow think of some surprise for such member? What about to sing a song? Anyway, I am not good singer - so guys, these of you who like singing.. hurry up :-D

Another one BIG THANK YOU goes to these who are brave and posted here their records and I hope that more of you will overcome own fear to record themselves and will post your audio records this time!!! Please think about it because almost 100 members and just few records - shame on you!!!

Do you hate me now? Come on, I am just sincere and I want the best for you - to start SPEAKING, to KILL YOUR FEAR OF TALKING !!! And in this case one must be strict! :)

What's going to be today's task? 

A) SPEAKING

Well, I would like you to share here with us, which one do you prefer: 

Life in the city or in the village?

Of course, sometimes we can't influence where we live in but I would like you to think about it, to compare it and to record yourself. If you write it down and will read it or just will talk by heart - again it is up to you. 

B) READING THE TEXT

For these who aren't so advanced and prefer reading (btw I would like to see the people whose level of English is good enough to take part in section A)!!!) here I am coming with one interesting article :

Slow Cities

The Slow cities movement started in 1999 with four Italian cities. Today eighteen Italian cities are "Slow Cities" and many more want to join the movement. Only cities with a maximum of 50.000 inhabitants can join.

Slow cities are cities of "good living". They promise to work to improve the quality of life of their citizens and protect local businesses, skills and traditions. They promise to reduce traffic and noise, create cycle paths, protect parks and green areaas, and ban car alarms and neon-lit advertisements. They promote local food production, small shops that sell local speciality foods, and restaurants that serve traditional dishes. For example, in BRA there are no cars in the town square, and the fruit and vegetables in school meals are organic. The food and wine festivals that Slow Food organizes attract thousands of tourists every year. Paolo Saturnini, founder of the Slow Cities movement, believes this is the way to protect the unique character of our towns and cities, and stop the invasion of fast food and the American way of life. And he is pleased about the long list of towns in Italy and abroad which want to join the Slow Cities movement. It shows that a lot of people agree with him. 

This text was rewritten from the Student´s Textbook "International Express" by Liz Taylor and it is for pre-intermediate students.

So guys, I am looking forward to your records and don't forget that by reading this post I have just written you won't improve your spoken English!!! BE ACTIVE !!!