Famous People Lessons: English Lesson on Radovan Karadzic

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THE READING / TAPESCRIPT

Radovan Karadzic is a former Bosnian Serb leader. He is currently on trial for war crimes and genocide at the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. Karadzic is thought to be behind the deaths of thousands of people in Sarajevo and 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica. He was a fugitive for almost 13 years.

Karadzic was born in 1945 in Montenegro. He moved to Sarajevo in 1960 to study psychiatry. In the 1970s, he studied neurotic disorders and depression at a hospital in Denmark and at Columbia University in New York. When he returned to Yugoslavia, he started writing poetry. He also got into politics and made a speech attacking nationalism.

Karadzic co-founded the Serbian Democratic Party in 1989. He wanted to create a nation of Serbs if Yugoslavia ever broke up. In 1992, he proclaimed the Republika Srpska, representing Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the Balkan Wars of 1992-1995 Karadzic took control of his republic’s troops from his military commander Ratko Mladic. He formulated the battle plans in his fight for Serb nationalism.

In 1996, Karadzic was put on the UN’s most-wanted list, charged with crimes against humanity. He went on the run for nearly 13 years. While a fugitive, he assumed an alias and lived in Belgrade. He lived a normal life and worked as a specialist in alternative medicine. He was arrested in Belgrade in July 2008 and flown to The Hague, where he is conducting his own defence.

249 words

Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org/ and assorted biographies.

SYNONYM MATCH

Match the words from the article on the left with their synonyms on the right. Are your answers the same as other students’?

Paragraphs 1 and 2
1.	former	a.	ethnic cleansing
2	genocide	b.	condemning
3.	fugitive	c.	entered
4.	neurotic	d.	runaway
5.	got into	e.	ex-
6.	attacking	f.	mentally ill
Paragraphs 3 and 4
7.	create	g.	drew up
8.	broke up	h.	making
9.	formulated	i.	false identity
10.	charged with	j.	disintegrated
11	alias	k	make
12	conducting	l	accused of

PHRASE MATCH

Match the following phrases from the article:

1.	He is currently on	a.	nation of Serbs
2	Karadzic is thought to be behind	b.	and depression
3.	He was a fugitive	c.	most-wanted list
4.	he studied neurotic disorders	d.	trial for war crimes
5.	made a speech	e.	against humanity
6.	He wanted to create a	f.	attacking nationalism
7.	He formulated	g.	his own defence
8.	Karadzic was put on the UN’s	h.	the deaths
9.	charged with crimes	i.	for almost 13 years
10.	he is conducting	j.	the battle plans

LISTENING GAP FILL

Radovan Karadzic _____________ Bosnian Serb leader. He is currently _____________ war crimes and genocide at the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. Karadzic is thought to _____________ deaths of thousands of people in Sarajevo and 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica. He was _____________ almost 13 years.

Karadzic was born in 1945 in Montenegro. He moved to _______________ psychiatry. In the 1970s, ________________ disorders and depression at a hospital in Denmark and at Columbia University in New York. When _______________ Yugoslavia, he started writing poetry. He _____________ politics and made a speech attacking nationalism.

Karadzic _____________ Serbian Democratic Party in 1989. He wanted _____________ nation of Serbs if Yugoslavia ever broke up. In 1992, he proclaimed the Republika Srpska, representing Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the Balkan Wars of 1992-1995 Karadzic ________________ his republic’s troops from his military commander Ratko Mladic. He formulated _____________ in his fight for Serb nationalism.

In 1996, Karadzic ________________ UN’s most-wanted list, charged with crimes against humanity. He ________________ for nearly 13 years. While a fugitive, he assumed _____________ lived in Belgrade. He lived a normal life and worked as a specialist in alternative medicine. He was arrested in Belgrade in July 2008 and flown to The Hague, where he is conducting ________________.

CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD

Delete the wrong word in each of the pairs in italics.

Radovan Karadzic is a former / firmer Bosnian Serb leader. He is currently on trail / trial for war crimes and genocide at the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. Karadzic is thought to be behind / in front of the deaths of thousands of people in Sarajevo and 8,000 Muslims / Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica. He was a fugitive for almost 13 years.

Karadzic was born in 1945 in Montenegro. He moved to Sarajevo in 1960 to studious / study psychiatry. In the 1970s, he studied neurotic disorders and depressing / depression at a hospital in Denmark and at Columbia University in New York. When he returned to Yugoslavia, he started writing poem / poetry. He also got into politics and made a speech attacking nationalism / nationalist.

Karadzic co-founded the Serbian Democratic Party in 1989. He wanted to create / creation a nation of Serbs if Yugoslavia ever broke up / in. In 1992, he proclaimed the Republika Srpska, representing / represent Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the Balkan Wars of 1992-1995 Karadzic took control of his republic’s troops from his military commander Ratko Mladic. He formulated / formulation the battle plans in his fight for Serb nationalism.

In 1996, Karadzic was put on the UN’s most-wanted list, changed / charged with crimes against humanity / human. He went on the run for nearly 13 years. While a fugitive, he assumed an alias / alibi and lived in Belgrade. He lived a normal life and worked as a specialist in alternative medicine. He was arrested in Belgrade in July 2008 and flown / flew to The Hague, where he is conducting his own defence.

SPELLING

The underlined, jumbled words are from the text. Spell them correctly.

Paragraph 1
1.	He is currently on tilar
2.	war crimes and inegedoc
3.	thought to be ndheib the deaths of thousands
4.	He was a fvtgeiiu for almost 13 years
Paragraph 2
5.	he studied neurotic essddoirr
6.	he started writing rypote
7.	He also got into icpsltio
8.	made a hceeps attacking nationalism
Paragraph 3
9.	create a inaont of Serbs
10.	Karadzic took control of his republic’s posotr
11.	iryimtal commander
12.	He formulated the eblatt plans
Paragraph 4
13.	the UN’s most-ntaewd list
14.	he assumed an lasia and lived in Belgrade
15.	worked as a alcsiesipt in alternative medicine
16.	conducting his own efeencd

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	genocide at the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. Karadzic is thought to be behind the deaths of
( )	thousands of people in Sarajevo and 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica. He was a fugitive for almost 13 years.
( )	Wars of 1992-1995 Karadzic took control of his republic’s troops from his military
( )	politics and made a speech attacking nationalism.
( )	returned to Yugoslavia, he started writing poetry. He also got into
( 1 )	Radovan Karadzic is a former Bosnian Serb leader. He is currently on trial for war crimes and
( )	disorders and depression at a hospital in Denmark and at Columbia University in New York. When he
( )	In 1996, Karadzic was put on the UN’s most-wanted list, charged with crimes
( )	commander Ratko Mladic. He formulated the battle plans in his fight for Serb nationalism.
( )	Karadzic co-founded the Serbian Democratic Party in 1989. He wanted to create a nation of Serbs if Yugoslavia ever broke
( )	up. In 1992, he proclaimed the Republika Srpska, representing Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the Balkan
( )	arrested in Belgrade in July 2008 and flown to The Hague, where he is conducting his own defence.
( )	against humanity. He went on the run for nearly 13 years. While a fugitive, he assumed an alias and lived in Belgrade. He
( )	led a normal life and worked as a specialist in alternative medicine. He was
( )	Karadzic was born in 1945 in Montenegro. He moved to Sarajevo in 1960 to study psychiatry. In the 1970s, he studied neurotic

SCRAMBLED SENTENCES

With your partner, put the words back into the correct order.

1.	behind deaths thousands people the of of
2.	for fugitive a was He years 13 almost
3.	psychiatry in He 1960 moved to to study Sarajevo
4.	he depression and disorders neurotic studied
5.	speech made attacking a nationalism
6.	control his troops took of republic’s Karadzic
7.	the fight battle for plans Serb in nationalism his
8.	and alias an assumed he Belgrade in lived
9.	alternative worked a in medicine as specialist
10.	conducting is he defence own his

RADOVAN KARADZIC DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	What do you know about Radovan Karadzic?
2.	Would you like to meet Radovan Karadzic?
3.	What would you like to know about Radovan Karadzic and why?
4.	___________________________________________________
5.	___________________________________________________
6.	___________________________________________________
7.	___________________________________________________
8.	___________________________________________________

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STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	What did you learn from this text about Radovan Karadzic?
2.	What questions would you like to ask Radovan Karadzic?
3.	What would his answers be to those questions?
4.	___________________________________________________
5.	___________________________________________________
6.	___________________________________________________
7.	___________________________________________________
8.	___________________________________________________

RADOVAN KARADZIC SURVEY

Write five questions about Radovan Karadzic in the table. Do this in pairs/groups. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

Without your partner, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Return to your original partner(s) and share and talk about what you found out. Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

WRITING

Write about Radovan Karadzic for 10 minutes. Show your partner your paper. Correct each other’s work.

______________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information about Radovan Karadzic. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. RADOVAN KARADZIC POSTER: Make a poster showing the different stages of the life of Radovan Karadzic. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

4. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about Radovan Karadzic. Include an imaginary interview with him. Write about what he does every day and what he thinks about.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

5. LETTER: Write a letter to Radovan Karadzic. Ask him three questions about his life. Give him three suggestions on what he should do in his future. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your “Radovan Karadzic expert” partner(s) will try and answer your questions.

ANSWERS

SYNONYM MATCH:

Paragraphs 1 and 2
1.	former	a.	ex-
2	genocide	b.	ethnic cleansing
3.	fugitive	c.	runaway
4.	neurotic	d.	mentally ill
5.	got into	e.	entered
6.	attacking	f.	condemning
Paragraphs 3 and 4
7.	create	g.	make
8.	broke up	h.	disintegrated
9.	formulated	i.	drew up
10.	charged with	j.	accused of
11	alias	k	false identity
12	conducting	l	making

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	He is currently on	a.	trial for war crimes
2	Karadzic is thought to be behind	b.	the deaths
3.	He was a fugitive	c.	for almost 13 years
4.	he studied neurotic disorders	d.	and depression
5.	made a speech	e.	attacking nationalism
6.	He wanted to create a	f.	nation of Serbs
7.	He formulated	g.	his own defence
8.	Karadzic was put on the UN’s	h.	most-wanted list
9.	charged with crimes	i.	against humanity
10.	he is conducting	j.	the battle plans

ALL OTHER EXERCISES:

Look at the text in "THE READING / TAPESCRIPT" section at the top of this page.

Famous People Lessons.com English Lesson Plan on Radovan Karadzic