LETTER tram the EDITeR
As this issue
of New Standpoints
winds up the school year, we have chosen to head for faraway hori- zons: our themes are travelling, sec stories and transport: a mix of fact and fantasy...Travelling can indeed imply fantasy and imagination; as you will see in
"Route 66", "the journey is the des- tination". 50 we are not aiming for any one specifie des- tination but we stay on the road... The sec opens up a treasure chest of subjects: Herman Melville, Nantucket yesterday and today, Cape Cod history and pest mutinies, with Billy Budd - or fer more simply - pirate games and a sec shanty for young learners!
Yet it can sometimes seem like the imaginative side has been lost in today's high-speed world. What counts for travel and transport is speed, convenience, and more and more, enviranmental concerns. 50 we examine a European scheme proposing new means of freight trans- port that could relieve congested European roads.
Transport culture and history in the UK provide an oppor- tunity to look back on the Thatcher era of privatisation fram the vantage point of three decades later, and get better insight into present-dey public-transport policies.
Pupils will be given pragmatic tasks in keeping with the season: preparing a trip to England... They will be made aware of issues like eco-friendly tourism and the con- struction of the Eurotunnel, and consider if building a tunnel under the Bering Strait is dream or busines_s...
As the school year drawsto a close, we can also have a look at some innovative ideas for next year: video film- ing in class, on-Ii ne homework assignments and starting a Comenius exchange with schools in Europe. As for us, we also need to keep up with Inevitable evolutions (but not sec changes...), so we are preparing a revamped version of New
Standpoints
for September.50 New Standpoints 44 gives a foretaste of the sum- mer holidays. Some of us will probably cross the Channel during the summer, in which case
we had better take along some sensible clothes, for reasons you will be reminded of in "Heavy Rain with Bright Intervals"!
