15 May 2012
As I mentioned last week, my other 6th grade class had the chance to skype with a class in the US today! Thankfully, it went much better because I learned from our errors in the first session.
Last week, I wrote about logistical concerns with such an activity. However, I'd also like to write about what I think this activity did for the students because I think this was an activity that they will never forget.
First, it gave the students a chance to practice English with someone other than their English teacher and me (and the cassette). It's great for students to hear a variety of accents and speech patterns so that they can develop a good ear for understanding spoken English. That, and I've learned that as Americans we have "lazy accents" and we "eat a lot of sounds." So instead of a crisp "twen-ty," Americans say "twen-y." I honestly didn't realize that there was such a profound difference between British and American accents until I arrived in Spain, and people told me that I was difficult (almost impossible) to understand.
My students have made great strides in being able to understand me. At the beginning of the year, I mostly got blank stares. Now, they more or less understand everything--which, of course, meant that I needed to have them hear other American students.
Furthermore, skyping with an American class was a great way to get the students motivated to speak in English. It was remarkable which students decided that they wanted to respond and ask questions. There were the students I expected to talk because they always participate. However, there were also students who never talk and try to avoid participation that wanted to try. They wanted to ask questions about football (soccer) and what their favorite teams were. They wanted to ask about food and whether they like pizza. They shyly approached me to ask "How do you say que Barcelona es el mejor equipo?"
They also got to see how much they have in common with the American students. They talked about food, sports, and activities. They discovered that everyone universally likes pizza. The American students learned a little about typical Spanish foods--such as paella and horchata. The students learned that they all like to play soccer (football) and basketball--though the Americans also like to play American football. Even though they live on two different continents, I think they realized that they have more in common than they expected!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Small differences.... Handwriting
14 May 2012
Even though I don't typically work on Mondays, I went to school today to prepare my students for their skype session with the US tomorrow and to give them their pen pal letters from their American friends. This led to an interesting discussion about things that they've noticed about their letters.
Some of their observations are the things you would expect (like "have got" versus "have" and "football" versus "soccer"). However, there were also little differences that you take for granted as being the same everywhere--such as handwriting.
First, a number of students were a little annoyed that their American friends had spelled their names wrong--though I assured them there were an equal number of letters I sent to the US with American students' names spelled wrong. I asked them if they had any difficulty reading their pen pal letters or if they noticed any differences in how letters were written. One student noted that a lot of the American students write in print--while the Spanish students write in cursive.
A number of students said that they thought that some of the letters were written differently, but they had trouble pinpointing which ones. I told them that when I read their work I often have trouble with the letters: r, s, k, h, and the vowels. It's the reason why I sometimes have to ask them to tell me how they've spelled something because I can't decide which one it is.
One student was particularly put out about how his name was spelled in his letter. I told him that he should tell his friend that he misinterpreted his name and that he should write his name VERY clearly in his response to his friend. A little while later, he turned in his reply to me. I start reading the letter and immediately notice he's butchered his American pen pal's name. I asked him if he did it on purpose (you never know!), but he told me that was how his friend wrote his name in his letter. In looking at the original letter, I could see how the Spanish student could misinterpret his American friend's name, and I helped the student to see how it was actually written. It seemed to drive home the idea that just as he couldn't read his American friend's name his American friend might have trouble with his name.
Eventually, I got the chance to sit down and read the rest of the letter. Unfortunately, my Spanish student didn't write his name any clearer this time and I could see exactly why the American student interpreted his name wrong.
Even though I don't typically work on Mondays, I went to school today to prepare my students for their skype session with the US tomorrow and to give them their pen pal letters from their American friends. This led to an interesting discussion about things that they've noticed about their letters.
Some of their observations are the things you would expect (like "have got" versus "have" and "football" versus "soccer"). However, there were also little differences that you take for granted as being the same everywhere--such as handwriting.
First, a number of students were a little annoyed that their American friends had spelled their names wrong--though I assured them there were an equal number of letters I sent to the US with American students' names spelled wrong. I asked them if they had any difficulty reading their pen pal letters or if they noticed any differences in how letters were written. One student noted that a lot of the American students write in print--while the Spanish students write in cursive.
A number of students said that they thought that some of the letters were written differently, but they had trouble pinpointing which ones. I told them that when I read their work I often have trouble with the letters: r, s, k, h, and the vowels. It's the reason why I sometimes have to ask them to tell me how they've spelled something because I can't decide which one it is.
One student was particularly put out about how his name was spelled in his letter. I told him that he should tell his friend that he misinterpreted his name and that he should write his name VERY clearly in his response to his friend. A little while later, he turned in his reply to me. I start reading the letter and immediately notice he's butchered his American pen pal's name. I asked him if he did it on purpose (you never know!), but he told me that was how his friend wrote his name in his letter. In looking at the original letter, I could see how the Spanish student could misinterpret his American friend's name, and I helped the student to see how it was actually written. It seemed to drive home the idea that just as he couldn't read his American friend's name his American friend might have trouble with his name.
Eventually, I got the chance to sit down and read the rest of the letter. Unfortunately, my Spanish student didn't write his name any clearer this time and I could see exactly why the American student interpreted his name wrong.
Nationalization of Bankia
13 May 2012
Last week, the Spanish government intervened and nationalized the Spanish bank Bankia.
In 2010, due to government-initiated bank reforms, Bankia formed as a merger of seven Spanish banks--with the majority of the shares held by Caja Madrid. As of this year, Bankia was the 3rd (or 4th depending on the source) largest bank in Spain (following Santander and BBVA) and held the majority of real estate assets (around 38 billion euros). These real estate assets are no doubt a part of the root of the problem for the bank. When the Spanish real estate market crashed, the bank ended up with a lot of debt.
However, in late-March, Bankia approached the Spanish government about a bail-out. Originally, the government denied the request--telling Bankia that they need to have more measures in place.
It was announced on Wednesday that the Spanish government will give Bankia the bail-out they have requested (of 4.5 billion euros)--gaining the Spanish government a 45% majority share in the bank.
Since the partial-nationalization of Bankia, the Spanish government has taken other measures to try to assure people (probably also to placate the rating companies) that they can trust in the stability of the Spanish economy. The Spanish government now requires that all banks have an extra 30bn euros (in addition to the 54bn euros the government required of banks in February) so they can cover bad loans.
*Disclaimer: I'm not an economist, and so I'm only explaining the situation to the best of my understanding.
Last week, the Spanish government intervened and nationalized the Spanish bank Bankia.
In 2010, due to government-initiated bank reforms, Bankia formed as a merger of seven Spanish banks--with the majority of the shares held by Caja Madrid. As of this year, Bankia was the 3rd (or 4th depending on the source) largest bank in Spain (following Santander and BBVA) and held the majority of real estate assets (around 38 billion euros). These real estate assets are no doubt a part of the root of the problem for the bank. When the Spanish real estate market crashed, the bank ended up with a lot of debt.
However, in late-March, Bankia approached the Spanish government about a bail-out. Originally, the government denied the request--telling Bankia that they need to have more measures in place.
It was announced on Wednesday that the Spanish government will give Bankia the bail-out they have requested (of 4.5 billion euros)--gaining the Spanish government a 45% majority share in the bank.
Since the partial-nationalization of Bankia, the Spanish government has taken other measures to try to assure people (probably also to placate the rating companies) that they can trust in the stability of the Spanish economy. The Spanish government now requires that all banks have an extra 30bn euros (in addition to the 54bn euros the government required of banks in February) so they can cover bad loans.
*Disclaimer: I'm not an economist, and so I'm only explaining the situation to the best of my understanding.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Las americanas (y las italianas) and the Chocolate Factory
12 May 2012
This morning, we finally made the trip to Villajoyosa to tour the Valor Chocolate Factory!
The tour started with a short video about the history of Valor chocolate. The video was strange to say the least, and that's all I'm going to say about it.
Next, we walked through the museum. We saw different advertisements for Valor chocolate over the years. This one is a personal favorite. From left to right it says: before drinking Lopez's chocolate, after drinking Lopez's chocolate, and after drinking Lopez's chocolate twice a day. I only wish this were true because I would look like the woman on the far right!
We also learned about the process for making Valor chocolate. Valor chocolate gets cocoa beans from various parts of the world--including Ghana, Panama, and Ecuador. First, the cocoa beans are cleaned. Then, they are roasted and ground into small pieces called nibs.
We were allowed to try these nibs. They were extremely bitter--though this makes sense since they are 100% pure chocolate.
Next, the nibs are ground even further until a paste/liqueur can be removed from the cocoa. The cocoa is taken to be refined into a fine powder while the liqueur is pressed until they can extract cocoa butter--which is used later in the chocolate making process.
The powder is placed in a machine (with sugar, cocoa butter, and milk) that warms and churns it for hours until a perfect consistency is reached. Then, the chocolate is placed into molds and allowed to cool.
After touring the tasting chocolate at the factory, we walked down to the beach for lunch. We got to see the beautiful colored houses down by the beach front.
During a tour at the archaeological museum, I learned that the houses were colored so that sailors could quickly recognize their own houses. People used to put flags in the windows to signal a birth or a death. So if you lived in the green house next to the red house, you could look at the windows and easily be able to tell if anything had happened while you were away.
This morning, we finally made the trip to Villajoyosa to tour the Valor Chocolate Factory!
The tour started with a short video about the history of Valor chocolate. The video was strange to say the least, and that's all I'm going to say about it.
Next, we walked through the museum. We saw different advertisements for Valor chocolate over the years. This one is a personal favorite. From left to right it says: before drinking Lopez's chocolate, after drinking Lopez's chocolate, and after drinking Lopez's chocolate twice a day. I only wish this were true because I would look like the woman on the far right!
We were allowed to try these nibs. They were extremely bitter--though this makes sense since they are 100% pure chocolate.
 |
| This hose is only for sugar |
The powder is placed in a machine (with sugar, cocoa butter, and milk) that warms and churns it for hours until a perfect consistency is reached. Then, the chocolate is placed into molds and allowed to cool.
During a tour at the archaeological museum, I learned that the houses were colored so that sailors could quickly recognize their own houses. People used to put flags in the windows to signal a birth or a death. So if you lived in the green house next to the red house, you could look at the windows and easily be able to tell if anything had happened while you were away.
Some phrases just don't translate...
11 May 2012
In the 8 years I've been studying Spanish, I've learned that there are just some phrases that don't translate or are false friends--meaning they don't mean what you expect them to mean. I wanted to share a couple I came upon while reading rough drafts of pen pal letters, others I've heard about from other people's stories, and some that I've misunderstood when I heard them.
I'm also going to share a couple words that don't have a direct translation. Also, I think it's interesting to consider why some words translate better than others and what this might say about culture.
pesado/pesada. While reading pen pal rough drafts, I was trying to figure out why all of the girls were writing "Is your sister as heavy as my sister?" This seemed a little rude. Spaniards tend to be more direct than Americans, but they are extremely rude. I'll admit I had to think about this question for nearly 45 minutes before I figured out what the problem was. The girls wanted to use the word "pesada" which means both heavy and annoying. Unfortunately, they translated the word wrong and asked about how heavy their sisters are instead of how annoying they are.
constipado/constipada. For your information, this does not mean constipated. It's actually used to mean "stuffy" or "congested" as in "My nose is stuffy." I think it throws everyone off the first time they hear it in Spanish.
awkward. While you can translate awkward into Spanish as uncomfortable, this just doesn't fully capture the full essence of the meaning of the word awkward. I'm 100% sure that the fact that the word awkward doesn't exist as such in Spanish doesn't have anything to do with the lack of awkward situations in Spanish. I assure you the awkwardness is a universal problem.
feeling hot/cold. These should not be directly translated. In Spanish, you have cold (tengo frío) or you have hot (tengo calor). If you use the Spanish verb for "to be," it will have a sexual connotation. One girl on my first trip to Spain learned this the hard way when our guide just laughed at her.
procrastinator. There isn't a single word for this in Spanish. I asked my language exchange partner about it a week ago because I wanted to describe myself that way in Spanish. However, you can basically only call yourself "alguien que deja todo hasta el último momento."
quirky. I had a conversation about this word with my language exchange partner. I explained that a quirk is something a little funny/goofy that someone does for no real reason, but that usually it's seen as a positive or funny thing. He told me that the translation would be "manía," but I'm not sure that captures the positive side of the word "quirky."
embarazada. This is a false friend. It doesn't mean embarrassed. It means pregnant. I know someone who once said that she was "embarazada" to her host parents in order to say that she was embarrassed about something. They looked at her stomach strangely and only later did she realize her error.
In the 8 years I've been studying Spanish, I've learned that there are just some phrases that don't translate or are false friends--meaning they don't mean what you expect them to mean. I wanted to share a couple I came upon while reading rough drafts of pen pal letters, others I've heard about from other people's stories, and some that I've misunderstood when I heard them.
I'm also going to share a couple words that don't have a direct translation. Also, I think it's interesting to consider why some words translate better than others and what this might say about culture.
pesado/pesada. While reading pen pal rough drafts, I was trying to figure out why all of the girls were writing "Is your sister as heavy as my sister?" This seemed a little rude. Spaniards tend to be more direct than Americans, but they are extremely rude. I'll admit I had to think about this question for nearly 45 minutes before I figured out what the problem was. The girls wanted to use the word "pesada" which means both heavy and annoying. Unfortunately, they translated the word wrong and asked about how heavy their sisters are instead of how annoying they are.
constipado/constipada. For your information, this does not mean constipated. It's actually used to mean "stuffy" or "congested" as in "My nose is stuffy." I think it throws everyone off the first time they hear it in Spanish.
awkward. While you can translate awkward into Spanish as uncomfortable, this just doesn't fully capture the full essence of the meaning of the word awkward. I'm 100% sure that the fact that the word awkward doesn't exist as such in Spanish doesn't have anything to do with the lack of awkward situations in Spanish. I assure you the awkwardness is a universal problem.
feeling hot/cold. These should not be directly translated. In Spanish, you have cold (tengo frío) or you have hot (tengo calor). If you use the Spanish verb for "to be," it will have a sexual connotation. One girl on my first trip to Spain learned this the hard way when our guide just laughed at her.
procrastinator. There isn't a single word for this in Spanish. I asked my language exchange partner about it a week ago because I wanted to describe myself that way in Spanish. However, you can basically only call yourself "alguien que deja todo hasta el último momento."
quirky. I had a conversation about this word with my language exchange partner. I explained that a quirk is something a little funny/goofy that someone does for no real reason, but that usually it's seen as a positive or funny thing. He told me that the translation would be "manía," but I'm not sure that captures the positive side of the word "quirky."
embarazada. This is a false friend. It doesn't mean embarrassed. It means pregnant. I know someone who once said that she was "embarazada" to her host parents in order to say that she was embarrassed about something. They looked at her stomach strangely and only later did she realize her error.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Skyping with the States
9 May 2012
For many months, I had been considering organizing a skype session with a class in the United States for my 6th grade students. I was a little hesitant because I wasn't sure if they could really handle it--both behavior-wise and linguistically. Ultimately, I thought it would be good to expose them to other accents and give them the opportunity to practice English with people other than their English teacher and me.
Our experience on the whole was positive. We have a skype session schedule for my other 6th grade class next week. After that experience, I'll write about what I think the students got out of the experience. However, today, I'd just like to talk about what I discovered the hard way because my students were much worse behaved than they normally are.
For many months, I had been considering organizing a skype session with a class in the United States for my 6th grade students. I was a little hesitant because I wasn't sure if they could really handle it--both behavior-wise and linguistically. Ultimately, I thought it would be good to expose them to other accents and give them the opportunity to practice English with people other than their English teacher and me.
Our experience on the whole was positive. We have a skype session schedule for my other 6th grade class next week. After that experience, I'll write about what I think the students got out of the experience. However, today, I'd just like to talk about what I discovered the hard way because my students were much worse behaved than they normally are.
- Setup is important. Before the actual skype session, it's important to do a practice call. However, there are many factors that go into this setup.
- Try to have a couple students with you while you do the practice call. When I did the practice call, the American teacher could hear me perfectly. However, when we did the actual call, the American class had difficulty hearing the Spanish students' voices.
- Think about how you want to arrange the classroom. All of the kids are going to want to be seen by the camera so be sure that you test the camera view ahead of time. Also, make sure that there are pathways so students can easily approach the microphone to ask questions and quickly sit down.
- Preparation and follow up. It's important to talk to the students about the experience before and after.
- Talk to the students about impressions. Ask the students what type of impression they want to give and how they can go about achieving it.
- Preparing questions ahead of time. Be sure to ask them to write 2-3 questions ahead of time. I guarantee most of them will not be able to think of anything in the moment.
- Give students tasks. I assigned different students various tasks to keep them on track. Two students were secretaries, and one student called on other students to ask questions. I should have had one student be the photographer because I ended up without any pictures of our experience!
- Remind students that they need to speak slowly and clearly.
- Ask students about their reactions. It's interesting to hear what their first reactions to the experience were. I heard someone say how surprised he was that the American students were all so blond. Another student complained that they spoke too fast (though I told them they do the same in Spanish, but they protested). Some of them noticed differences in language usage.
- Lay down some ground rules. The kids were very excited--which incidentally led them to misbehave. It's hard to be mad at them for this, but you'll lose a lot of time if you can't get them to quiet down. So consider how you are going to deal with misbehavior and understanding checks.
- Organization. Talk to the other teacher about how you'd like to organize the skype session. We ended up having the students start by introducing themselves (so everyone had a chance to participate). They all had to say their names and their favorite activity. Then, we took turns asking questions. We also agreed to leave the last 5-10 minutes for my Spanish students to teach the American students a little Spanish.
- Be ready for the end of the call! All of the students are going to rush the camera to wave at the other kids! Give them the chance to do this, but stay close to the computer so you can stop the call when it gets to be obnoxious!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Positive Reinforcement: Stars
10 May 2012
I've written before about various methods of positive reinforcement that I've tried here in the classroom in Spain. Using positive reinforcement is something that I think that all teachers struggle with, but it's something that makes a huge difference. If a student is accustomed to being yelled at, the student becomes in a way immune to it. However, give that student some encouragement for the things he/she is doing right, and the student will try harder because every student just wants a little bit of praise.
I've already written about using the Star of the Day with my 1st grade classes. However, I wanted to take that idea and give more kids the opportunity to get stars.
Today, at the beginning of class, I wrote the word "names" on the board. I stood next to the board observing the usual chaos of the first five minutes of class when the students are handing out folders and pencil cases. I was waiting to see who would be the first to open his/her folder to take out his/her books and open them to the right pages.
I wrote the names of the first two students to do this on the board and put a star by their names. Of course, all of the students noticed and immediately asked me what was going on. They wanted to know if these kids were in trouble or something. I explained to them that these were the best behaved students in the class and I told them what I liked that they did. They sat down quietly, opened their books, and waited for class to start....
Within seconds, all of the kids had everything ready and asked me if I would put their names on the board. I told them I was only going to put the names of the students who had good behavior, who were trying to speak in English, who were working hard, etc.
Of course, they had a million questions--like how many stars they could get, if they could lose stars...
This method of positive reinforcement turned out to be "teaching magic." All the kids were really well-behaved that day--even the ones that usually toe the line. All of them were eager to show me what they were doing and how hard they were working.
However, the most amazing part was the type of students for whom this was working. Some of the students who dislike working on English activities were actually working!
I've written before about various methods of positive reinforcement that I've tried here in the classroom in Spain. Using positive reinforcement is something that I think that all teachers struggle with, but it's something that makes a huge difference. If a student is accustomed to being yelled at, the student becomes in a way immune to it. However, give that student some encouragement for the things he/she is doing right, and the student will try harder because every student just wants a little bit of praise.
I've already written about using the Star of the Day with my 1st grade classes. However, I wanted to take that idea and give more kids the opportunity to get stars.
Today, at the beginning of class, I wrote the word "names" on the board. I stood next to the board observing the usual chaos of the first five minutes of class when the students are handing out folders and pencil cases. I was waiting to see who would be the first to open his/her folder to take out his/her books and open them to the right pages.
I wrote the names of the first two students to do this on the board and put a star by their names. Of course, all of the students noticed and immediately asked me what was going on. They wanted to know if these kids were in trouble or something. I explained to them that these were the best behaved students in the class and I told them what I liked that they did. They sat down quietly, opened their books, and waited for class to start....
Within seconds, all of the kids had everything ready and asked me if I would put their names on the board. I told them I was only going to put the names of the students who had good behavior, who were trying to speak in English, who were working hard, etc.
Of course, they had a million questions--like how many stars they could get, if they could lose stars...
This method of positive reinforcement turned out to be "teaching magic." All the kids were really well-behaved that day--even the ones that usually toe the line. All of them were eager to show me what they were doing and how hard they were working.
However, the most amazing part was the type of students for whom this was working. Some of the students who dislike working on English activities were actually working!
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