What is a Council Tax?
The Council Tax is for local services in England, Scotland and Wales. These services can range from the rubbish collection every week in your street, maintaining the police and fire brigade in your borough, construction of buildings or road repairs to improving community centres for young people and adults etc.

The amount of Council Tax you need to pay is based on the value of the house and the number of people aged over 18 years living there.

After the bill has been calculated, it will be issued to the person that is liable to pay the bill in that housing.

What difference does it make if you are a student at UIC?
You may be interested to find out that students sometimes don’t have to pay Council Tax – they are exempt.

If you live in accommodation that is mainly occupied by students and that is also provided by your school, you don’t need to pay Council Tax.

If you are a student and you live in a flat share with non-students, your housing might have received a Council Tax bill and your flatmates might ask you to participate in the payment.

What can you do to be exempt from paying Council Tax?

If you are studying at UIC, you need to fulfil the following requirements to be exempt from paying Council Tax:

You must be studying on a course:

1. for at least 24 weeks
and
2. for at least 21 hours of classes a week

To prove to your local Council Tax office that you are a student, you will have to give them a Council Tax Certificate confirming that you are a full-time student at UIC.

At UIC you can request this certificate through E-learning and then collect it the following day at Reception.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/info_sheets/council_tax.php

 But in many other countries ‘a moment’ can last a lot longer. Most British people were first made aware of this with the arrival of a lot of foreign footballers and coaches into our Premier League. If Carlos Kickaball* had just scored  3 goals for Liverpool and said  in  a TV  interview  ‘this is a really good moment for me’, we could understand that. However, we were all a bit confused when Roberto Mancini, the manager of Manchester City talked about his team’s recent good results saying; ‘ The team are in a good moment’ – this was a moment that seemed to last for several weeks! Since then, there have been a whole range of different moments: Arsenal passed through ‘a difficult moment’ that lasted about a month. And now, of course, we start to see English sports people starting to say the same thing! The last few weeks before the Olympics will be ‘an important moment’ for the athletes.

Even our language partners in the US give us a bit of a problem; this is with the adverb; ’momentarily’. If we in Britain say ‘I’m going to be off-line momentarily’, this means it will happen now and only for a very short time – a moment. If an American said the same thing, he would mean that he will be off-line not immediately but very soon.

There is a story that this difference once nearly caused a crash at an airport.  One day a British Airways pilot was taxiing to the runway at Chicago’s O’Hare airport and announced by radio that he was going to go forward  ‘momentarily’ and started to move forward’.  The air traffic controllers understood that he meant ‘ in a minute, not immediately’ and signalled another aircraft t cross in front of the BA plane.  They very nearly collided on the runway.

In Spain, moments (momentos) can be so long that they have another word for a short moment (momentito).  So, it seems that a moment’  in many European languages can mean almost any temporary period.  You can ask; did the dinosaurs live in the  Jurassic Moment? Did some animals disappear during the last Ice Moment?.

I hope you have a lot of enjoyable moments in the next week but it won’t be just one long moment, not in London anyway.

*This brilliant name for a general foreign footballer was devised by Lord  Alan Sugar

CAE writing task to write an article for the college magazine advertising the Film Club.

Florence:

The film club is a great opportunity for everyone who is interested in movies to watch all kinds of films from comedies to horror to documentaries.  In next year’s programme there are films like Star Wars, Bridesmaids and many others. Furthermore, we
will go watch the latest films in the cinemas. After every film we usually have an interesting conversation about it of course in English and we enjoy and have lots of fun. The film club is also a great new way to make friends and to improve your language as a foreigner. The coffee bar where we usually meet is now open late so that out discussions can go on until the early morning hours. Sometimes we have some special guess speakers such as Hugh Laurie or James Cameron. Next year we expect none other than George Lucas! So take the chance to join us. We will be pleased to see you on one of our meetings on Mondays at college theatre at 7p.m.

Antonia:

The college film club meetings take place every Monday between 2 to 3pm in the auditorium of the school. We are a small of students and would like you to join us. But what makes this club nice and interesting?

Personally, what I enjoy the most is to have the chance to watch variety of different films with other students what makes it more fun. Moreover, there is always a discussion after the movie, so we get to understand the background of the story and hear the opinion of our friends. An idea for next year from on of our members was to invite guest speakers like Brad Pitt, Jessica Alba or Leonardo de Caprio  to tell us more about the production of films or just to ask them questions we can’t answer ourselves. For this reason, the receptions has allowed us to leave the coffee bar open until we finish even if it later than normal.This film club is not only a nice place to make new friends in other classes; it also gives you a rich knowledge with which you have a great deal to talk about with others.

Two of the best known politicians in the country are competing today in a fight to be the Mayor of London. Currently the Conservatives’ Boris Johnson has more votes than any other candidate. The other well known politician is Ken Livingstone who served as mayor for eight years until 2008, when he was beaten by the current Boris Johnson. Mr Johnson is beating Mr Livingstone, with Boris on 45% and Ken on 39% at 1pm today. A final result is due from 6pm. This is the fourth election since the office of the Mayor of London was created in 2000. The current mayor Boris Johnson is looking for re-election for a second term as Mayor. Issues facing the two candidates in pre-Olympics London included transport, police numbers on the streets and rising crime, with last year’s riots raising questions about poverty and unemployment.

1. If any person or organisation gets too popular and successful, it’s a British tradition to start disliking them. So, disliking
   United and wanting them to lose is just like eating fish and chips.
2. The experience of supporting a football team is not supposed to be pleasant or satisfying. Supporters have to suffer
   frustration and pain 90% of the time. It builds character!
3. This means that when your team gets a little bit of success; maybe 2 or 3 big victories in a season or 2 big seasons in a
   decade, it’s so much more enjoyable.
4. If Man United don’t win the league,.. if they come second, it’s a disaster and everyone gets depressed. Where’s the fun in
   that?
5. Support your local team, it should be in your DNA. Most Man United supporters don’t live in Manchester; they don’t even live in the UK.
6. Most little boys go through a stage of wanting to support Man United because they always win. Most of us grow up.
7. Life gets a little bit more boring, grey and depressing when the big team always beat the little team.
8. Other teams sometimes rise to challenge for the championship but  Man United are just always there; boring.
9. They definitely get favoured by referees. It’s almost impossible for a visiting team to get a penalty at Man United’s ground
   (Old Trafford).
10. Liverpool, Man United’s main enemy, are a proper football club who are supported by people from Liverpool and there’s something heroic about them and what they’ve done in the past.

On Tuesday we went to see Wicked the Musical. It was a fantastic night and the production was very good! The students were impressed with the music and costumes and can’t wait to go back again. Our next trip is in May so look out for the posters in e-learning. It was still raining on

Wednesday but luckily we had a trip to the British Museum to keep us dry. This museum is one of the student’s favourites as it is so close to the school and houses such a vast collection. Each time we go we check out a new gallery and this time we explored the Greek galleries. We were particularly intrigued with the collection from the Parthenon building. There is a lot of controversy over this exhibit as the Greek government requested the items back in the 1980’s so they could be put into the New Acropolis Museum which will allow the Parthenon sculptures to be appreciated against the backdrop of ancient Greek and Athenian history. However, the British Museum argues that as it exist to tell the story of cultural achievement throughout the world it is important that they remain as a resource for the whole world to enjoy. Why not check them out yourself this week and see what you think?

By the end of the week it was still raining and our planned walking tour from Buckingham Palace to Westminster had to be cancelled. But this did not stop us from getting out! We took full advantage and a few of us went over to Covent Garden for some sneaky shopping and a chat over coffee and cake! Finally, lots of students joined in celebrating the weekend with a party hosted by LostinLondon at the fantastic night club, the Piccadilly Institute, although I fear there might have been a few hangovers the next day!

Don’t forget what’s on this week…. Monday: Welcome Meeting and Pub Crawl, Tuesday: Camden Market, Wednesday: British National Gallery, Friday: Covent Gardens and Pacha Nightclub.

Tara xx

The race is run over 26 miles and 325 yards – and is run by tens of thousands of runners , ranging form the elite runners who will possibly be breaking the world records down to the thousands of club runners and then to the tens of thousands of ordinary people who run the race mainly to raise money for charity.  The races start at 9.00 for the elite women, and 45 minutes later for the elite men and the ‘mass start’. There is also a wheelchair marathon which is quite amazing. If you want to get a good view the best places to see the race are Greenwich (quite near the start so not too many tired runners), by Tower Bridge – which is about half way and where they cross the river about an hour after they start or along the Embankment (opposite the London Eye and 15 minutes walk from Trafalgar Square) where you can see the first runners come past about 11.45 (a couple of hours after the start) and then can see the other runners come in for the next few hours. The finish is in the Mall – in front of Buckingham Palace – the first men should finish in a couple of hours (the world record is 2hr 3min 59sec for men and 2hr 15 min 45sec for women). There is great expectation of someone breaking the world record – so make sure you’re there to see it. The roads are opened after 6 hours and even then the last person won’t have finished! The centre of London is pretty traffic free so it’s a great opportunity just to wander around. The biggest attraction though is probably the thousands of fun runners who raise millions of pounds for charities and sometimes dress in costumes! Its a fantastic spectacle and just another reason to be in London – if you needed one! If you fancy having a go then you apply online – the website is open for applications on May 4th.  Last year all the 125,000 applications were gone in a few days and not everyone who applies gets in – there are only about 30,000 actual places, so get in early!  The only way to guarantee getting in is if you have run a very fast time – something under 2hr30mins for men. Come and join us at UIC and make sure you see plenty of things like this to make the most of your time in London. If you do fancy starting running there are plenty of running clubs (come to the office and ask us if you want help finding one), and the parks in London make great places to practice. There are also a couple of proper running tracks open to the public – the most central one is in Battersea Park – very easy to find and get to.  You never know, you might be the next champion!

Just at the moment in our school, we are trying to employ new teachers for the summer season.
We have offered jobs to a few teachers so now the ball is in their court (1)  to tell us if they want to work for us. We do everything we can to help new teachers so they can get a head start (2) but they have to learn the ropes (3) in the first few weeks. We want our teachers to give it their best shot (4)and if they do this, we will give them a fair crack of the whip (5). However, I’m afraid if they’re not up to par (6), we have to decide that they are out of their depth (6) then we have to bite the bullet (7) and let them leave. Still, hopefully, there are plenty more fish in the sea.(8)
How many of these did you understand ?

1  It’s for them to decide        tennis

2 Start doing something in the best conditions     sailing

3 Learn all about some new situation       sailing

4 Do their best/try hard             boxing

5 Let someone show you what they can do       horse racing

6 Not good enough                                          golf

7 It’s too hard or too much for them             swimming

8 Make a difficult decision                                shooting

9 Lots of other people to choose                       fishing

At the end of the day, if you can follow the context, you’ll understand, no sweat!

Whilst we were there we discovered a new exhibition about the Golden Silk Orb-Weaver Spider. This amazing spider makes silk thread the colour of yellow gold. On display in the gallery is the world’s largest piece of cloth woven from this unique silk. There is a shawl and a cape made from the silk of 1 million Orb-Weaver spiders. It is a stunning colour and well worth a visit, the display is open until early June.

Stuck for something to do in London this weekend? Why not try out some of the markets…

* Borough Market – Foodies will love this place, packed with delicious treats and tempting dishes! Where? London Bridge near
Southwark Cathedral

* Camden Market – From the weird to the wonderful this eclectic market has something for everyone and don’t forget to pop down
the canal and hike up Primrose Hill to admire the view

* Covent Garden Market – this is shopper’s heaven, loads of high street and brand shops as well as unique stalls, also check out
the street artists and don’t forget to donate some money

* Portobello Market – This is always a busy one but worth the struggle through the crowds if your are after an antique bargain
or two, don’t forget to stop for a cake at Hummingbird’s Bakery. Where is it? Notting Hill

* Petticoat Lane – This flower market in East London is a great place to take some amazing photos and has a great atmosphere,
even if you are not a gardener it is a must!

* Spitalfields Market – This modern market has an array of stalls and some great restaurants, a good starting point when
exploring the East-end. Where is it? Liverpool Street Station