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A blue jeans and sexy tops party was hosted by Priyanthie Fernando at her residence in Colombo 7 last week.
A lesson with a chuckle
 Fourth in a line of humorous sketches and hilarious 'situation comedy' is Goolbai Gunasekara's latest book titled With Friendly Malice.

To readers who follow Ms. Gunasekara's stories featured each month in the Lanka Monthly Digest, this collection will come as a vital addition to personal libraries. To others who remember the famous KitKat tales of a few years ago, this latest publication will both delight and draw happy chuckles for the witty turn of phrase one expects from a writer of Goolbai Gunasekara's calibre.

Using her undeniably 'in depth' knowledge of teenagers and their incomprehensible doings, this well-known Principal of the Asian International School has drawn on her wide experience and understanding of the feminine psyche to comment on situations and teenage attitudes parents themselves find impossible to understand. For instance, the story titled Teenage Accessories highlights the use and misuse of the mobile phone (so necessary to the youth of today).

In spite of the rollicking style of the author, there is a serious underlying message for everyone. Using humour to underscore many of the ills of modern society, Ms. Gunasekara skilfully castigates the garbage collection system, the power cuts and their causes, and other such areas without causing offence. My favourite How to Win an Election was included in this book although it was first printed over four years ago.

A former winner of the Zonta "Woman of the Year" award in Education, Ms. Gunasekara combines her busy career as a Principal with her other careers as writer, mother and grandmother.

If you want to be entertained, amused and mentally challenged read With Friendly Malice. There is no 'malice' in fact.... but it all makes jolly good reading.
- Sonali Pathirana

Teaching and seeing the world

What's new in teaching English
 An International Conference on "Innovation in English Language Teaching" organised by the Sri Lanka English Teachers'Association (SLELTA) will be held from August 30 _ September 1 in Colombo.

"Our main objective is to introduce a number of new methods of teaching English," says Amy Hamlyn, a teacher herself and the editor of the SLELTA quarterly magazine. A number of reputed speakers including Thiru Kandiah, Professor of English at the University of Peradeniya and the Chair of SLELTA who will speak on "Out of Sri Lanka, what next?", Jeremy Harmer, a freelance trainer, writer and the author of "The practice of English Language Teaching", John Clegg, an international consultant in bilingual education and Malachi Edwin Vethamani, a specialist in language and literature training and senior lecturer at the University Putra Malaysia and the Chair of the Malaysian English Language Teachers Association (MELTA) will address the conference.

This is the second conference being held since the inception of SLELTA in 1999. "The first was a resounding success,"says Ms. Nirmali Hettiarachchi, the co-chair of the association. "We had 44 participants and the feedback was fantastic."

This year's conference will focus on such innovations as IT; DVD and puppetry related workshops.

"The exposure teachers are to receive at the conference is great. They will mix with experienced international teachers and learn the teaching process from square one," adds Anna Searle, the Deputy Director of the British Council.

SLELTA works with the help of the British Council, but it hopes to function as a unit of its own in time.

By Ruwanthi Herat Gunaratne
 Twenty four years ago, a young law graduate decided he wanted to see the world. He signed up with the Voluntary Service Organisation (VSO), little realising that his new posting would decide his destiny.

That law graduate was Tony O'Brien, the new Director of the British Council in Sri Lanka. He was posted to Egypt to teach English as a foreign language way back then and loved it. "The personal contact that teaching gave me was beyond comparison. I never regretted that decision," he recalls.

Intent on teaching, he went back to Britain after finishing with the VSO and studied for a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching English Overseas in Manchester. There he met a lady who also felt that teaching might be just the vocation for her. "Yolanda was in the same situation I was in, studying for the identical qualification and the rest as they say is history," he adds laughing.

On completing the two-year course they travelled together to the northwest corner of Iran. He taught English to university students and wrote a specialist book on teaching English for medical students. That done it was back to England, where he was to teach in London for the very first time.

Going on to work at the British Council, he travelled to Morocco on his first assignment observing the many methods of teaching the English language.

In his last position in London, where he was Director for English Language Teaching, Tony was responsible for global policy development on many interesting projects. The learn English website offers a range of free activities for people who want to improve their English while the Peacekeeping English project provides training in 24 countries to help uniformed personnel communicate with their neighbours. He also read for his Masters in Language and Literature in Education at the Institute of Education in London.

Tony is not new to Sri Lanka. He first came here about ten years ago when he spent ten days examining in Colombo. "I got really lucky, and managed to bag a vehicle and travel to Kandy to catch the end of the day perahera. Then it was on to Sigiriya, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Nuwara Eliya."

In 2000 he presented a paper at the first ever International Conference of the Sri Lanka English Language Teachers Association (SLELTA) and in 2001 attended the South Asia Workshop held in Dambulla which allowed him to climb Sigiriya a second time!

"I always wanted to work in Sri Lanka. When I forwarded my application I found that the greatest number of applications are for posts in Sri Lanka. I'm ecstatic that I got the job."

But what are his views on English language in Sri Lanka? "There was always a clear interest in learning the language, but during the 1980s that changed. It became a link language, something to help with the rift. But now I see the language coming back as an integral part of the learning process."

The British Council's international department has together with many Sri Lankans actively involved in the teaching of English published a book that is freely available for young learners.

"These books are beyond comparison. The quality of the content and the methods of presentation, the subtle touch regarding the ethnic crisis are all highlighted to the best advantage," he says. But what about the teaching system? "In the good old days it was a case of learning punctuation and grammar first and then the more practical side of the language. But now teachers stress the use of constant English first and introduce the other elements gradually. It is a more effective and practical method of teaching a language."

And his plans for the British Council? "There are a few small projects that have been lined up. At the moment we are to move to new premises in Kandy and open a new library in Matara. A digital library is on the cards, to encourage the use of reference material. "Kids in Touch", a website catering specially for youngsters is still in the pilot stage."

Tony took over from Susan Maingay and will be here for the next four years.

Here a twist, there a twirl
 By Ishani Ranasinghe
With a thin strip of paper in one hand and a quilling needle in the other, I wonder how I am going to make an intricate flower.

But Sandhya Dharmasena makes it look so simple, taking the strip of paper, rolling it and with a few swift movements turning it into flowers and leaves in front of our very eyes.

As she says, paper quilling is a wonderful craft out of which one can create simple but beautiful decorations.

"I learnt the basic method of paper quilling from an Italian artist who visited Dubai three years ago," she explains. Since learning the basics of paper quilling, over the years, she has come up with her own creations and methods.

Paper quilling does not need any complicated tools or materials. All you need is strips of coloured paper and the quilling needle. With these simple materials and with a few twists and twirls you can create many things.

Sandhya makes picture frames, cards and other ornaments which are eye- catching and dainty.

Recollecting her childhood in Matale, she says she is glad that her mother recognized her artistic talent and encouraged her to study needle and artwork. She now lives in Dubai, U.A.E, teaching arts and crafts at the Al Diyafah School. She also conducts workshops at the Dubai International Arts Center. Over the years she has conducted many workshops, the most recent being on paper quilling.

Most of her creations are given to friends as gifts and a few sold at the craft bazaar, which is held twice a year in Dubai. "It is for my pleasure, not for money," she says.

It is also something that relaxes her after a hectic day. She says that the happiness she feels when she sees the excited faces of her students when they create something beautiful is immeasurable.

Now in Sri Lanka on a holiday, she has held many workshops here.
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