Checkmate

Three days ago we had this interesting conversation in class about death penalty. I remember some good points of view on who or when should be penalized with such penalty and, even though some look surprised, I said I totally agreed with it. Consequently, I gave my arguments of why did I think that way. The debate that started that morning was one of the best ones I’ve ever been to but sadly time wasn’t in our side and we had to finish it right away.

Later, when dinning, I kept the same conversation with Kath, my wife. She is absolutely against death penalty and we both had our own mini-debate in which the arguments were becoming very realistic (as we both were politicians trying to find solutions). Suddenly, Kath said something I never expected to hear… “Do you believe in God?”

Knowing what she wanted to do I said: “what does that suppose to mean?” and she said again: “Do YOU believe in God?” I answered “yes, why?” and she said “well, if you believe in God, one of his commandments says “thou shall not kill. Therefore capital death is not an option for a believer”. Not showing any emotions but recognizing that somehow I had to change my thoughts, we remained in silence and finished our dinner.

Education

I must confess that it was a pleasure to listen to this talk. Mr. Robinson was very funny in sharing experiences and examples of how education has cut down natural (and most of them artistic) capacities in human beings. In fact, his whole talk was related to, what I conclude, the effects on education that are indeed a direct consequence of our economy system. I would like to make a comment on 2 things I thought were interesting:
1. The learned intolerance of facing mistakes. It is well known that making mistakes is not a good feeling but it is a necessary part of the learning process. We, Chileans, avoid as much as possible speaking in public because we don’t want to make mistakes. Why, if is the only way to learn!?
2. The fact that studying arts is an illness. According to our new conception of human value, the more you produce the more valuable you become. Being a dancer, or a painter, or even a teacher, doesn’t produce as much as some expect. And those are the ones that have classified arts as a useless for our society, keeping us away from developing our artistic abilities.
These two things considered, plus a thousand more we can discuss are he ideas mentioned in the talk that I wanted to highlight today. They are also the stone in our shoe when it comes to our educational system.
The final question I would ask is how can we, language teachers, motivate our student in order to develop their talents and not only their language skills?

Mom doesn't want me to

This goes for Facebook and the amazingly chance it gives me to stay in touch with people I’ve met throughout my whole life. In fact, one of those I’ve met was a schoolmate who used to be very mean, selfish and… what I call “a brown noser”.

The moment I saw this guy some memories came to my mind. For example, during the break time, he had his snack out (which was more attractive than mine) and every time I said “can you give me a little of it” he would say “nope. Mom doesn’t’ want me to share my snack”. It was always the same with everything!… Mom doesn’t want me to share my eraser… Mom doesn’t want me... bla bla bla!

Now that I see this guy, almost reaching his 30 years of age, and see that he hasn’t done much progress I had the impression of asking him “does you mom want you to be a wacko?... does your mom want you to have no girlfriend?... does you mom want you to be a loser?... does your mom want you to hide behind your laptop pretending to have a life? does your mom want you to pretend to be cool by having the smartest mobile phone?... does your mom want you to be a moron? moron! but, I didn't.

Anyway. That was his life years ago and it looks like it’s the same nowadays. And I’ve found it out because of Facebook and its gossipy style. I Hope this guy is still enjoying his snack... meanwhile I'll enjoy my life with MY own girl, MY own money, MY own job, MY own success and! MY own snack!, sucker!.

A teacher

Every time I see parents asking their teenager sons and daughters what are they going to study I remember my parents asking me what I wanted to for the rest of my life. The "rest of my life" sounded like if I was going to die right then but, the funniest thing I can tell is that I had the same random answers I hear from teenagers today: "don't know, engineer maybe… or a doctor… and during my spare time a firefighter".

Well... finally I decided what to do. I understood that somebody has to make these teenagers decide what to do not by asking them but by guiding them to catch a taste for something personally satisfying. Being a teacher was the option and, because of the chances I've had with English during my life I thought it would be personally fulfilling.

So, here I am, at Alberto Hurtado (which is one of the safest universities in Chile) trying to reach my goal. I think that, somehow, I'll be able to show my students what options they have in life. I'll be the bridge for "culturizing" and interacting with different countries, believes and lifestyle in order to open minds and perspectives.

I personally believe that changing the world starts by oneself but I don't go after changing the world (like I've heard many times from classmates). I think that's too utopist. I just want to see a more solid society, growing up in knowledge, respect and appreciation for the ones around them. That's what being a teacher is to me…that's what I want to be.

6O years on

Today I want to share one of my favorite singer's song. It is an Elton Jones' cover but includes the " Brandi's magic touch". Just a couple of days ago I got the meaning of the song. Well... here it is... the big question they make (and it is also the same question I question myself):
Who'll walk me down to church when I'm 60 years of age... when the ragged dog they gave me has been 10 years in the grave?

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You, dirty weather forecaster

I, religiously, turn the TV on every single morning to watch this guy telling us how to dress. As always, I got up at 6.00, turned on the TV and got dressed after listening that we were supposed to have a nice cloudy day. NICE CLOUDY DAY MY EYEBALL!

Rain is what I had all over me!... tons of people telling me that Mr. Weather said it was going to be rainy but, I swear, that is not what I heard. This is just the media's fault! how come they have journalists doing what a meteorologist should do!?

Anyway, hope Mr. Weather receives this message: Hey dirty weather forecaster, you suck!

BBC - Learning English

I've always used different kind of websites to get information and find some sources to learn English in a cheaper and easier way. Sites like esl-lab.com or eslpod.com have been very very usefull.

Today I want to share a comment on BBC's website. This is one of my favorites so far. I haven't found anything related to my life or my country but, I'm sure everybody who has tried at least once this site, has found hours and hours of interesting material and resources to practice English.

If you're one of those busy guys that need an extra day in the week, I'd suggest you to try "Words in the News". It will keep you updated and it will reinforce your vocabulary and listening strategies.

Well... It's not "that" easy

Today I drunk a lot of water and couple minutes later I felt the urgent necessity of relieving myself a bit and, the moment I got inside the bathroom I noticed something I’ve heard many time from girls. Women are forever complaining that us, men, pee everywhere but never inside the potty, and the bathroom I was about to use was the perfect example.

I have to confess that many times I have been victim of “not having the perfect shot” but I’m not the worst one either so... after thinking a little bit ‘bout my experience, I got to understand that women don’t really know how difficult it is for men to control something that’s part of our nature. IT CAN TAKE YOU YEARS to develop the right technique.

I’ll tell you that I have been trying it almost 26 years and I still have much to learn…. But anyway… what I really wanted to express today is that you girls, before making a comment, please think a little bit: Is it easy for men to pee? Sometimes I wonder what would you do if you had a wee-wee. you’ll probably see that taking a pee is not that easy. Not "that" easy.