openning doors, creating opportunities
miércoles, 21 de marzo de 2012
WELCOME TO LANGUAGE III 2012
Hello everyone, this is going to be a cyber space for the class to get together and discuss topics of interest. The main idea and purpose of this blog is to keep you posted on the readings and/ or assignments that we're going to do through out the year. REMEMBER, to enter the blog as much as you can, make comments and participate. THIS SPACE IS COMPULSORY!!!! and It will count in your final marks. Kevin and I strongly believe this is an excellent opportunity to improve your language skills, so ... WELCOME TO LANGUAGE III !!!
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Just received the invitation, thanks!
ResponderEliminarThe invitation was sent to me by one of my classmates, not throught the e-mail you sent. Please check that you have my e-mail address all right: agcbosch@gmail.com Thanks!
ResponderEliminarI'll try to send it to you asap Agustina, Sorry!
EliminarCintia.
Hello! I just wanted to share this poem we're working with in Literature for Children at the "Profesorado". I think it goes perfectly with the topic of the "melting pot" we talked about in class.
ResponderEliminarThe British
Take some Picts, Celts and Silures
And let them settle,
Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.
Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years
Add lots of Norman French to some
Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.
Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,
Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese,
Vietnamese and Sudanese.
Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians
And Pakistanis,
Combine with some Guyanese
And turn up the heat.
Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians,
Iraqis and Bangladeshis together with some
Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese
And Palestinians
Then add to the melting pot.
Leave the ingredients to simmer.
As they mix and blend allow their languages to flourish
Binding them together with English.
Allow time to be cool.
Add some unity, understanding, and respect for the future,
Serve with justice
And enjoy.
Note: All the ingredients are equally important. Treating one ingredient better than another will leave a bitter unpleasant taste.
Warning: An unequal spread of justice will damage the people and cause pain. Give justice and equality to all.
Benjamin Zephaniah
Interesting - Zephaniah does spoken-word type presentations of his writing. You can find some of them on youtube, if anybody's interested.
EliminarThanks for putting this up, Kevin
Thank you for sharing this poem Mariel. As you can see... we can mix the topics from Literature, Children's Literature... and more.. you'll see. I'll tell Kevin to have a look at the poem, probably we can work with it in class. By the way, what do the rest of the class think about this poem?
ResponderEliminarCintia.
i think of it as a joke rather than a poem...
EliminarIt's a beautiful illustration of multiculturalism by such a successful writer...
ResponderEliminarTAKE TIME TO READ. It's worth reading it. Trust me :)
ResponderEliminarProfessor : You are a Christian, aren’t you, son ?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor: So, you believe in GOD ?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Professor : Is GOD good ?
Student : Sure.
Professor: Is GOD all powerful ?
Student : Yes.
Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn’t. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?
(Student was silent.)
Professor: You can’t answer, can you ? Let’s start again, young fella. Is GOD good?
Student : Yes.
Professor: Is satan good ?
Student : No.
Professor: Where does satan come from ?
Student : From … GOD …
Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student : Yes.
Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct?
Student : Yes.
Professor: So who created evil ?
(Student did not answer.)
Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor: So, who created them ?
(Student had no answer.)
Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen GOD?
Student : No, sir.
Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?
Student : No , sir.
Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.
Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student : Yes.
ResponderEliminarProfessor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.
Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem Science has.
Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Professor: Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as cold?
Professor: Yes.
Student : No, sir. There isn’t.
(The lecture theater became very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.
(There was pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)
Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?
Student : You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, well you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?
Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man ?
Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good GOD and a bad GOD. You are viewing the concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.
Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going.)
Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
(The class was in uproar.)
Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?
(The class broke out into laughter. )
Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)
Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.
Student : That is it sir … Exactly ! The link between man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that keeps things alive and moving.
P.S.
Forward this to increase their knowledge … or FAITH.
By the way, that student was EINSTEIN.
I think, the following is a good summary of the topics we have dealt with in class: "pathos", "ethos", "logos".
ResponderEliminarI hope this can be useful for the class
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKRboUG4yq4
Thank you, Hector!!
EliminarHere's another one with a very simple "every day" example!! It's fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4tTugqBkJU&feature=related
Here's a short video of Eric Liu talking about the importance of teaching. Hope you enjoy it!
ResponderEliminarhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKG6jSdxN6g&feature=related
Here's "A Modest Proposal"'s audiobook. Hope it can be of use!
ResponderEliminarhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMJ8CNb6Kuk