LATEST UPDATE: June 09 (June 16th) and My music blog (June 14th)
June 16th
Hi folks! It's D-day and while I'm writing this (for the sake of relaxation) most of you must be doing the weirdest examen de certificación I've come across in these 3 years since the Junta decided to unify the certification EOI exams. I'm thinking of you all and trying to picture you guys down in the Salón de Actos while you're going across the Reading comp tasks. Gosh, I just hope you don't lose focus and do your best. Someone told me right before the exam: I don't have much at stake today, and I wish all of you would feel the same. I mean, who doesn't like passing exams, (that's what they should be made for, I'd like to believe) but I hope this is for you no more than a test of your language skills, regardless of the level the exam may apparently have (probably the texts - or most of them - are more difficult at first sight than the actual tasks, or are they?). I think some of the tasks are more frightening than challenging.
Anyway, what I mean to say is that you should never measure your capability, your ability, by the mere score of a test. I just hope that, whether you pass or fail, you keep learning English for the sake of using the language as competently as you can, in whichever situation. For the same reason, I want to believe that those of you who are given the symbolic "thumbs up" will not quit learning this wonderful language. I've always felt kind of sad to think some of you might just come to the language school in search of just a "sealed sheet of paper", if you see what I mean. I hate this titulitis syndrome that sometimes plagues our society. Hopefully making the grade will encourage you to keep improving your language skills independently, more effortlessly, slowly but steadily.
Vow, how about that for another "lecture".
Well, may I change the tone of this entry. On to basketball, then. You know how much I love this great sport. And surely you've all heard the news that a Spanish NBA pro, our own Pau Gasol, has made history by winning the coveted American championship for the first time. I've always admired Pau for his intelligence, class and demeanour on and off the court. So much so that I'm positive he would have been successful at any other sport (or profession for that matter). So I'd like to humbly advocate his candidacy for the Prince of Asturias Award by embedding this short clip (first in Spanish, then in English) where he "shares his jubilation" with us all. I reckon he is even more articulate and fluent in English than in Spanish! Doesn't he sound like a true American? Nothing to do with Nadal's broken English or Alonso's Asturian accent, ha ha! Definitely basketball is a sport for the elite! Only joking ...
Well, this is all for now. I have to collect the papers in a minute. Keep clicking. And good luck with the exam!
Hi there! Welcome back to the blog, which I had "deserted" for a while". But what better occasion to resume it than this entry which features the photos of our dinner party last Thursday. I guess most of them came out nicely, some of them are really funny, but all of them bring fond memories of a lovely and emotional night spent with you guys. I hope you like them as much as I do!
I think I told you then, and I tell you again, that you can bring your pen drives on Tuesday (meet me at the school hall between 15:30 and 15:40 or go to classroom 10A during the breaks) and I'll copy the photos for you. If you don't have a "pincho" (or you think it's infected with a bothersome virus) you might prefer to bring a blank CD, no problem. And if for any reason you're not turning up the day of the exam you should be able to download the pics directly from the Picassa application.
But in the meantime you can enjoy a preview of the memorable night by clicking on the photo right down below. Now you will understand why I said Alberto steals the show!
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| Cena fin de curso 2NA 08-09 |
On a more serious note, how are you feeling these hours prior to D-Day? Nervous? Eager to do the exam and forget it all? Doing any English practice at all? Well, I don't know if I should send you more stuff as it might make you more stressed. I was expecting you would send me some essays but only Antonio has dared do it. By the way, you'll have to wait until tomorrow before you get the key to the last reading comp activities since I cannot find them anywhere in my PC's hard disk, and I'm just too busy to do the stuff myself. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Ok folks, it's time to close. I'm leaving in a couple of hours for Medina del Campo to meet some friends for lunch and I still have to finish some correction work (Intermediate exams from my colleague Victoria). I wish a happy Sunday (though it seems we're in for a rainy day) and hope you don't get too stressed all the way to Tuesday's final test. Un abrazo.
Hi everyone! Greetings from classroom 29 @ the language school, where at this very moment I'm invigilating at a 1º Avanzado exam for a workmate, Rocio, who incidentally will be one of my tribunal partners for your oral exam.
Let me start this first entry of the June blog by saying how awfully I'm missing you guys. You know, if feels like the first few days after the end of term I'm suffering from withdrawal symptoms and certainly it takes some time getting used to not meeting my students. Honestly, I'd rather have a hundred lessons with you than all this Mad June of red tape, exam correction and stuff. So stressful!
Hey, I'm really looking forward to meeting up with you all next week for our eagerly anticipated farewell dinner. How's life in the meantime? Some of you still terribly busy with exams, I guess, others going about your daily business. Do you still manage to find a little gap in your precious time to do some English practice? Hopefully you do, so you won't come the day of the exam a little bit "rusty". I'm preparing more material for this week, both listening and reading tasks, but I wouldn't like to smother you with too much stuff.
You see, a former advanced student of mine has just sent me a link to a Google book which might kind of relax you and ease off tension. It's titled Drunk in charge of a foreign language by someone called Matt Rothwell (never heard of him) and my ex-student tells me there's quite a lot dedicated to our country, and specifically to Salamanca. I've just read the first few pages to get the taste of it and I reckon it should be a fun easy book for you. Then, if you type Salamanca on the search box you'll find that page 100 and following are set in our fine town and Matt deals with typical Salmantinian things such as bulls, Lunes de Aguas and - what else - the Plaza Mayor. Surely you would like to read bits and pieces (the book is set out like a diary) and then go back to it during the summer.
Interested? Click on the link below. Regrettably, you cann
ot download the PDF (or at least I don't know how to do it) so you'll have to read this travelogue online:
ot download the PDF (or at least I don't know how to do it) so you'll have to read this travelogue online:OK folks, time to stop now. My temporary students are about to end their written task and some of them are moving restlessly in their seats. By the way, do you want to know the tasks they've been given? An essay on the pros and cons of CCTV cameras in public places and a letter of application. Funnily enough, the latter is the very last thing we did as regards writing skills. Typical, I dare say! Who knows, you might come across the same task on the 16th ...
Keep clicking, will you? Cheerio!
