Ahora sí sé que hacer

Ha pasado mucho tiempo desde la última vez que publique algo, y a pesar de que hubo bastante para contar, no tuve el suficiente tiempo ni tranquilidad para sentarme y rumiar lentamente lo que iba a poner en este blog. Pero ahora sí lo sé. No quiero saber nada más de lo último en investigación en la ensenanza de lenguas, la maestría que estaba haciendo es una porquería y me siento desubicado en dicha área. Odio la mayoría de los profesores de inglés que conozco. La mayoría son frivolos y las investigaciones de punta que hacen son frecuentemente basura redactada en uno que otro journal para ser consumidos y tirados a la basura. Paulatinamente me voy a dedicar a otra cosa. Sé que va a ser muy dificil y que corro el peligro de morirme de hambre, pero el tedio me tiene tan aburrido que ya no veo razón para no renunciar a esto que he estado haciendo por tanto tiempo. Y ahora qué? No sé, pero lo averiguaré.

What am I going to do?

After a very nice weekend in which I relaxed a lot, celebrated my mom´s birhtday and saw for the first time my little niece´s face, I came back to Bogotá with a little bit more of energy despite the inconveniences in the trip. i have just forgot that I had not been able to have regular classes the previous week and I was expecting that the long weekend might make students forget about the blockades of buildings and might convince them to protest without ceasing academic activity. Yet, I was more wrong tha ever and only two students approached me in the buiding to tell me that they were supporting the strike and therefore they were not coming to classes. I told them to get some material I have left at Raul´s photocopy and work on their own until the situation got a little bit normal. It seems to be they are not sure the situation is going to improve, at least for a long time because they feel it will only improve when the minister of education gives up the reform. However, the government does not want to give in any way and every single day, this looks more like Chile.

I tried to contact my students to see if we were going to be able to see each other in front of the Linguistics building where we were supposed to have class. Only one student came and he left after a while. For this thursday a progress test was programmed and though I told students via blackboard that I had not received any communication regarding a cancelation of the exam, I was worried because we have lost seven sessions and I had not been able to cover the language topics students were going to be evaluated on in the test.  I approached Oscar Daniel, the teacher-technician in charge of the tests and I told him my students were not going to be able to take the tests because I had barely seen some of them during the las two weeks. He told me not to worry and try to contact my students to tell them that from now on we might be able to meet at the resources centre in order to have at least some tutoring sessions. When I went upstairs, where the exams are take there were like 5 of my students, but just few of them had gone over the material I told them to photocopy, so I decided to send them to get the material, work on it and I invited to come at the resource centre next Monday in order to have a tutoring session where I can solve some of their doubts.

I hope they show up though I am not very hopeful because I already got an e-mail in my inbox with a  communication written in the last assembly of teachers where they have decided to join the students´ movement actively. I guess this is going to get tougher.

P.S. I know. I was very tired when I arrived in Pto López. Catalina seemed to be well-rested.

Written test 2. Do you think teachers should make fun classes?

Hi dears:

Based on the Photocopy on agreement / disagreement and the writing tips with the example that I have attached to the e-mail message, you're required to write an essay of minimum 300 words where you have to state if you agree or disagree with the following statement:

Teachers should make learning enjoyable and fun for their students. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

Try to organise your text in this way:

Paragraph 1: Introduction and state your own opinion.
Paragraph 2: Summarize arguments against /pro; give reasons for your opinion.
Paragraph 3: Explain why these arguments are wrong / against / supporting
Paragraph 4: Conclusion - state your opinion again.

Remember: you've got until Monday 12 midnigth to send me your essay.
- Send it to my personal or University mail  service: filologia65@gmail.com, or gamosqueras@unal.edu.co
-Post it in my blog where I will leave the entry.
or - Bring it in physical form the very same day of the exam (Tuesday 4th October 2011)

Any further queries do not hesitate to contact me

Love

Giovanni Mosquera

Massmedia owners and their responsibility

How truthful do you think information from media is taking into account the ones that own massmedia corporations have a lot of economical interests in mind and lots of partnerships with different companies and politicians?

My first day in the world of blogs

Hi my name is Giovanni Mosquera, I live in Bogotá, Colombia; and this is my first time in the world of blogs. Soon I will give you a new update of my blog writing about different topics that I think will be of your interest. By all means, I will try to write all my entries in English, but sometimes I am going to feel a bit compelled to write in Spanish due to the nature of the topic. As English is not my native language I would really appreciate if a gentle reader add comments about the language. Meanwhile I will be pondering  about an interesting topic to write about. Feel free to contact me if you have got any questions.

Regards