Letters

Bearing in mind the topic of the mask and the English topic of pen-friends, the students were asked to write letters to an imaginary pen friend in a country of their choice. The letters written would have to respect a letter's normal stucture but also contain specific requirements: the student's description (physical and psychological), their hobbies and interests, the reasons why they chose to correspond with someone from that country. One very important thing- the students would have to describe themselves as their opposite. It was, basically, the opportunity to lie... a lot.


After the selection of the 3 best letters in each class, the teacher read them out loud and the colleagues assessed the work (without having any idea about who the letter was from) in terms of content, stucture and originality.

The three winning letters, from the 3 classes from the 10th form were the following:
FROM 10ºA - Filipa Luz

Dear Jenna,

I’m really excited about changing correspondence with you, honestly. There are so many things I want to know about Japan. I’d love to visit it since I’m really young and I believe that this is a fantastic way of knowing this country a little better. But first let me introduce myself.
My name is Joss and I live in London, which is an amazing city by the way. I’m a really pessimist person, so you may never receive this letter. I absolutely love philosophy and astrology. My hobby is philately; I do enjoy collecting as many stamps as I can, so I would like to ask you if you can send me some stamps to my stunning collection. I love to listen to Britney Spears, Sean Paul…
Although I don’t really like fashion, I usually go shopping once a week at the best shops in London and sometimes to other European cities, such as Paris and Berlin.
I’m tall, dark haired and I have blue eyes.
Well, now that you know me a little better I would like to ask you some questions. How’s life in Japan? Is it true that everything is really organized? These may seem silly questions but I’m truly interest in this aspect since I’m a very organized person, so this is also one of the reasons that made me choose your country. I would love if you could tell me how’s life in there, what are your customs and all that type of things. J

Yours sincerely,
Joss


From 10ºE, Susana Almeida
Lisbon, 01, December 2008
Dear Conchita
Chile



Hello, my name is Trident, I live in Luanda, in Africa and I am a black girl with blond hair and purple eyes. I must be at least 1 meter 80 centimetres. Unfortunately I suffer from anorexia, and I think it is due to this disease, that I hate, absolutely hate eating. In two days, I only ate a crumb! But I can do that for a several weeks drinking it only with water. I think I was born to be anoretic, you know, here in my country there are dishes, which I don’t like, especially the Muamba. It is filthy, the only thing I like, so far, are okras, a wonderful satisfaction to me only by the smelling them!
I think that my bad eating habits are constantly making me tired! Because I never smile, I don’t speak at school, I always say to my parents that I never talk to my colleagues in class, I must be a phenomenon! So I guess my best quality is my antipathy, arrogance, impatience, and my cynicism. Now I will tell you some of my faults, first comes the mistrust, too much selfishness, and indifference. I am a rare girl! Yes, because I don’t like to go shopping! My parents thank me, of course!
Here in my country there are many insects and animals. The ones I like best are cockroaches. They have wings here in Africa, and they are such fascinating worms! They are able to survive a week without heads, they are fabulous. I like them so much that I have one as a pet, her name is Gigi, she is quite fun, jumps up to me, she even tickles me. To sum it up, big fun.
Now, you should be aware of something. If you decide to visit Africa, beware, people find the lions, leopards, giraffes, elephants very funny but I don’t. They are very dangerous, and some of those carnivores are brutal killers. I don’t like them. In addition to playing with my cockroach, and saying bad things about wild animals, I love to read, all kind of books with the exception of Mafaldinha. I also like to polish shoes, and put the dishes in a dishwasher, but there are also things which I do not like doing, for example, to vacuum, to make the beds, to eat as I had said before, not to speak of watching TV - total boredom, the same with cooking!
You should know enough of me to be scared. Correct?
You know here in my country it is always too hot, that's why I’m writing to you, Chilean friend, tell me how it is living in a place where you have hot weather together with snow. I would also like to know your opinion on the islands of Easter, and I loved to go to Patagonia, have you already been there?
I expect an answer soon.

A hug.
Trident.

From 10º J, Catarina Teixeira



Hello Andy! Can I call you Andy? Alright then!
My name is Jessica, I’m 16 years old. I’m a short, but skinny, teenage girl. I have red hair and green eyes. I usually wear really colourful neon clothes, so you could spot me a mile away!
I’m a very active and social person, and I always love to hang out with a crowd. I have to be popular! I need it! I know almost everyone at school (at least everyone who’s anyone) and my phone keeps ringing. The teacher already took my phone twice because it rang in the middle of class.
Some weird kids at my school call me dumb and “preppy” (whatever that means). I don’t care though, they’re creepy and always wear black, gothic clothes, which I absolutely hate.
I’m a cheerleader at my school. I love to exercise and move around like that. I also love the outfits! The skirts are to die for! And everybody watches us and cheers. It feels so nice to have everyone’s attention on you.
I wanted to write to you because I’ve heard so much and seen so many pictures of the Big Apple. It’s such a huge town! So busy and noisy. But so very interesting too. I would like to know how it is to live there, how is the life of a New Yorker.
By the way, which clothe stores would you recommend?
I hope to hear from you soon!

Yours sincerely,
Jessica.

I want to say thank you to all the students and to congratulate them because there were some very creative and interesting letters in all classes.