A Christmas Crossword

Do you want to learn all the vocabulary you need to survive the Christmas Holidays?
There is “A Christmas Crossword” on the web that will help you practice these words you forget every year and that just come back to you when you use them.
Here is the chance! Let me know if it works. You can also download te printable version and practice while you travel in the subway...
Have fun!

Shake it off! (Your lazyness, I mean)

Dear students,
Here goes my last letter, I guess, before the New Year!
I know how difficult it is for you to be motivated with a prompt that started with our classes at the beginning of October. I know it's difficult to keep writing if nobody is telling you how important it is to write a little piece every day. Maybe somebody is telling you how important it is, even your own inner voice but... are you listening? I know it is almost impossible to be motivated if you do not have comments on your posts... What can I say? Little, without your contribution.
I wanted to list some of the thoughts that have been hovering in my mind while I was reading you these days.
May I? Thanks!
a) If you write on your blog and do not read the others and do not write comments on your partners blogs... do not expect to get any comments. Keep this moving! Write and comment and answer back when they tell you something. It shouldn't be a very long text... A few nice words can be motivating enough.
b) Correct your mistakes when the teacher suggests some changes. It is very frustrating to come back to you and find the same mistakes I've corrected before.
c)Spell-check your texts before your publish your texts. Very often I find mistakes that could have been avoided.
d)If you have language doubts, check them out in a grammar book or in the web.
e)Write short texts but do it often. Be versatile Use different materials; videos, listening texts (podcasts), texts, films, songs, web pages or books for inspiration and support... Try different topics and approaches. Be daring! Experiment with language; use chunks you know by heart from songs or books you've listened to or read. Insert those into your texts and make them sound more “English”.
f)Do not expect to be corrected by the teacher immediately and every time after you write. Keep the flow of your own pace, make it fluent, continue writing. Interact with each other and be happy or at least challenged with your partners' comments and those your may get from the teacher sometimes... But, by any means, do not stop writing if I do not say anything to you.
All I need to see is that you get from 6 to 10 comments in each of your posts... To get all these you may have to write 15 comments yourself! And... what about these native speakers of the language we were going to look for?
I have the feeling of being a ghost, for I cannot be seen but I can tell you I'm there! The doctor said he will keep me on a sick leave al least until after the Xmas Holidays. I feel better but I'm still in pain. I met Irina, your replacement teacher, last Friday and she is certainly taking care of you. So you are lucky to have her, meanwhile.
I'll be back soon and I will take into account all you have done, all you have written. (Tutorial meetings will take place right after the holidays.)
Do take care. All the best,

Lack of Inspiration?

I was thinking to offer two possibilities:

For the left brain functioning people go to The Naked Scientists: Science Radio & Science Podcasts
and try to find an appealing topic to comment on.
For the right brain functioning people may this quote by D.H. Lawrence stir your minds in times of "crisis"?

The human soul needs actual beauty more than bread.

With all my love,

Right or Left? Nothing to do with politics

Whenever I have time, that is to say, right now, when my 24 hour day have a painful touch and I can do what I fancy for an hour, at least, between painkiller and painkiller, I love reviewing these books I read in the past and which have been meaningful to me.

Maybe inspired by our dear bloggers The Walsh Family, Rip Van Winckle and Jack the Ripper who also brig us back to the values of classical literature, forgotten nowadays?

Here I am this morning reviewing one of my masters, one of the forbidden writers (according to Sara Palin) Aldous Huxley's Music at Night, 1931. A collection of essays, short enough for me to finish between pain and pain.

This is the essence:
"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music."

I also came across one paragraph which I related to the aforesaid bloggers that I transcribe below:
"When the experiences recorded in a piece of literature correspond fairly closely with our own actual experiences, or with what I may call our potential experiences-experiences, that is to say, which we feel (as the result of a more or less explicit process of inference from known facts) that we might have had-we say, inaccurately no doubt: 'This piece of writing is true.' But this, of course, is not the whole story.

I wonder how much of their lives you share with your characters, and what is it that you share? I'd love to have an answer, and yet, you might not have it.

That very same paragraph shows the usage of "piece" in English.
*This piece of writing
*A piece of paper
*A piece of advice
*A piece of literature
*A piece of furniture
*...
Huxley was probably aware, as much as his own language has proven to be, of the "pieces" in life.

English, a language that allows pieces and almost forbids the "whole". What a language! I know it can drive crazy more than one. Easy in a way (no accents, easy verb structures) and difficult (no rules for pronunciation, different sentence structure...) I realize, almost at the end of my professional career, how it has affected my other languages; Catalan and Spanish, not to say French. Languages that I have used most of my life...


What a mess! The final mess which brings me to my last point, the one I want to convey, to share with you, for you to consider and help you develop the side of the bran which is less active by showing a clear example of a "right brained" person. The one who has written this very inarticulate piece of writing.

Here are my results:

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (56%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain. Left Brain (36%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Would you like to know your tendencies? Take the test, and let us know.

Obama President!

As you, my dear students, may guess, I'm happy with the results of the American Elections.
Pain woke me up at 4am and I could follow the final results of the American elections directly on TV3. It's been really moving when the metter has shown the electoral votes for California and this was enough for Obama's victory.
As you know, I have lived in the US for a long time and I was unsure of this victory for I had exprerienced the racism they were so afraid of in my own skin. I know now, America is changing for the better.

Read the news and watch the videos of the magic night and just enjoy the flavour of change!

Videos:

Obama Acceptance Speech HQ (Part 1) 11/04 - Barack Obama Victory Speech November 4th 2008

Obama Acceptance Speech HQ (Part 2) 11/04 - Barack Obama Victory Speech November 4th 2008

And Pinch Me ...a message from Michael Moore

Inspiration?

Put yourself right in the present. This was my principle when I wrote the diary – to write the things I felt most strongly about that day. Start there and that starts the whole unravelling, because that has roots in the past and it has branches into the future… I chose the event of the day that I felt most strongly about, the most vivid one, the warmest one, the nearest one, the strongest one.
Anaïs Nin, A woman Speaks


I was ready to go to my gym class this morning, as I always do on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but when I got close to the sea I observed a marvelous horizon, a pinkish hue line above the sea, a mixture of pink and purple that all of a sudden I decided to change my plans. I went walking by the sea instead and found a great deal of details that made me think of my day as something absolutely different, something special.
As I was observing the passersby I could detect smiles, frustrations, anger, joy, happiness, determination, doubt, anguish… on their faces. I just corresponded with a smile or a few words if they were familiar to me for I felt naughty, as if I had not done the right thing but I was being compensated for my deed.
I was enjoying the first real autumn day thoroughly, feeling the drizzling rain on my face, observing the naked tamarinds, recently trimmed, the sand sculptures demolished by the cleaning trucks and the surfers getting in their wetsuits ready for a great trip! It was their day!
As I was walking, two poems, I would love to share with you, came to my mind: Sea Change by Charles Tomlinson and Ode to Autumn by John Keats. I cherished these delightful thoughts in times of crises.
As I reached the end of the Promenade in Sitges, I took my notebook and scribbled a few ideas. Here’s the organized result of my messy notes.
Enjoy the weekend and plan on a little escape, do something different than you usually do. I hope you feel rewarded just like I have been this morning.
All the best!

The Slow Movement

Reading about The Slow Movement: Making a Connection I've come up with a list of ideas you may consider. As usual, this is not compulsory. You may write about this unless you have better ideas...

-time poverty
-Home schooling
-making connections
-Buddhism
-organic food
-Schools in turmoil.
-Home schooling...

I got a few ideas from the text. There are many more!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Burn After Reading

I've just posted in Nicenet a couple of links (trailers and review) related to the new comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen. I hope the links inspire some writing and of course a greater wish to go and see the film in the original version, of course!!!
Keeping you busy, just in case!
Cheerio!

Need ideas?

I was reading the BBC News last Saturday and found an article on the topic we were discussing in class: Tattoo culture under the spotlight. Here's the link for you to read and in need of ideas you can write a little review using some of the words and taking care of the style.
Here are some quotes to open your appetite:

"It is only now in Western culture that tattoos are becoming an expression of individuality, rather than being about belonging to a community,"

"People understandably tend to be focused on the artwork of the tattoo, but as it is usually an invasive procedure on the skin, people should be aware of potential problems, even if the risk is small."

I hope you take advantage of it and enjoy it!

Welcome to the teacher's Blog

Carpe Diem! or Seize the Day will be the teacher's Blog for this 4th EOI 2008-09. I hope the sentence is inspiring enough for you to find your own voice just like the very powerful and intense teacher, Mr Keating, from the book and film we are going to read and watch: Dead Poets Society.

As we are starting a new school year, I encourage you to visit my previous year students’ Blog to see how active and creative they were on: http://stillacer.blogger.com The students’ blogs are on the right column of the Blog.

Do not follow their path; go further. Try to read native speakers Blogs and write comments to them if you find articles and pieces of writing that challenge or interest you.

Remember to use your English outside the classroom as much as you can. Talk to foreigners, read books, watch films in English, pay attention to the lyrics of English songs; try to understand the words while you're listening. Create the habit of reading the news in English, listen to pod casts and documentaries. Find opportunities to practice the language. Your learning is absolutely up to you!!!

I do hope you enjoy learning English as much as I enjoy teaching!