My first music cassette ( that time in the80s you could choose cassettes or vinyls only) was ‘Obywatel GC’ performed by Grzegorz Ciechowski. I was 12 and I bought it in the local bookshop (there weren’t any music shops that time in my town). I listened to it hundreds of times on my Grundig MK 2500. Later, when I was 13 or 14 I got another tape (BASF 90 and SONY 60 previously bought by my father in Pewex) from my brother. He offered me something unusual – side A – The best of the Beatles and side B – The Cure – Pornography. I guess this was the beginning. The 3rd and the 4th tapes were two records by The Exploited – Punks Not Dead and Troops of Tommorow.

Next tapes, finally CDs (and vinyls!), new bands, vocalists etc. flowed like an avalanche. I started listening to punk music (both Polish and English), then grunge, rock, metal, cold wave, electronic, trip-hop, pop, indie pop, postrock, noise, industrial, classical, drum’n’base, jazz, experimental and many, many others. My music collection consists of more than 2000 records and it’s strictly limited now because of my father duties:) Few years ago everything changed and audio streaming services have revolutionized the way I listed to music at home and out (Tidal and Spotify).

I’m sometimes asked by my students about my music preferences. Actually, this is one of the hardest questions: they have some expectations, it’s very often part of them and I wonder if my answers sound old-fashioned:) Time flies pretty quickly:)

My answer is: ‘I can tell you what I listen to in my car when I commute to work’. So, right now I can show you some videos showing my current (2023) music preferences (or the music I just like listening to in my car):

I’m not a hobby maniac who is able to make many sacrificies for his interests. But the truth is there are five things that make me feel good: going trekking, music, photography, reading and teaching English. I’ve decided to write a bit about some of them (I mean my hobbies:) in different posts. If you want to read about my music preferences please click here. The books I have recently read – click here. If you prefer looking at my photos click here. And if  you like to know me as a teacher, don’t hesitate and click here. 

Here, I’m publishing my video materials (also available on YouTube) to help my students prepare for this exam.

One of the writing tasks in the advanced level is writing an article, which requires specific rules, structure, and evaluative criteria. Here’s a video that may help you understand these rules, structure, and evaluative criteria, which still apply after the 2023 exam update.

Another writing task is an informal letter/e-mail that is part of the basic level exam. Here is a video that may be helpful. According to the '2023 exam’ standards, this writing task is supposed to be longer (100-150 words instead of 80-130) and the scoring has changed; you can now receive 12 points instead of 10, with one more point for content and one more for vocabulary. Even with the new standards, writing still accounts for 20% of the whole exam.

Stoicism is a school of philosophy that inspired my life, help me survive in everyday life and rationally assess things that happen to me.

The Stoic that inspired me the most is Marcus Aurelius who wasn’t the sage but many call him the philosopher. Apart from being the stoic master he was the Roman Emperor who reigned from 161 to 180 AD and who deserved to be one of the greatest rulers in history.

He is the author of 'Meditations,’ a collection of personal writings that miraculously survived in the tempest of history. These writings are essentially his private thoughts and philosophical reflections. Here’s a summary of the key themes and ideas found in „Meditations”:

If you want some recommendations about Stoic books worth reading, you should read my ’Reading’ section where I try to inform you about some interesting books I have read.