The Orphan

As a Halloween movie/activity, This picture brings back the psycho killers into the mainstream, enjoyable if you are in the mood¡¡
Orphan, the name says very little for what you get to see in the movie. I watched great horrors/thrillers, this movie with mild brutality and refreshingly thrill creates a great impression on audience pulses. Esther, especially, acted terrific in portraying psychotic behavior and the screenplay was just perfect to make it a picture perfect.

Be it, the twists introduced in the plot in the later half of the movie or the realistic resemblance of the whole plot, the movie is worth your buck on the big screen. Though the movie was 2hr long, it was a clever move by the director to inject some meaningful comedy into the movie so as to maintain the attention of the audience. An interesting point to note is that audience laughed quite a bit for almost 60% of the movie and then were shocked as the plot took twists and turns. This combination of humor along with shock is what makes this movie a brilliant thriller.
Info:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1148204/

Download activiy:

http://cid-e57ad46b7956f5a2.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Activities/Orphan.docx

Akeelahand the Bee

This is a movie that can be used in class, it has a very good plot and leaves a good message along with vocabulary.

In 'Akeelah and the Bee' Keke Palmer plays Akeelah Anderson, a bright 11 year old who just wants to fit in. Despite her intelligence, she is not a good student. She is unmotivated and often misses class. Since the death of her father five years ago, she only seems content when she imagines playing Scrabble with him. Nevertheless, her talent for spelling gives her an opportunity to shine.

This is on of the better movies I have seen this year. This heart-warming and inspirational story is about a girl who, despite all the hardships at home, finds a way to utilize her skill at Scrabble. With a little help from her coach (Laurence Fishburne) she not only learns a lot about language, but she learns how to appreciate the environment around her. She finds out that she is rich in ways she did not realize.

It is very difficult to find fault with this movie, there is something in it for everyone (even a few surprises). Both Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne are awesome. I was particularly impressed with Keke Palmer. I would compare it to 'The Karate Kid' meets 'Finding Forrester'.

INFO:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437800/

DOWNLOAD ACTIVITY:

http://cid-e57ad46b7956f5a2.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Activities/Akeelah.docx

Parts of the Speech

This is a very important powerpoint 2007 presentation, especially if you want to learn the 8 parts of a speech... you can download it from this link, it's a skydrive link, if you have any problems downloading it, please write down a comment:

http://cid-e57ad46b7956f5a2.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/TOEFL/LearningthePartsofSpeech.pptx

CP Florentino Zapata

I sadly inform that CP Florentino Zapata, head of UANE passed away yesterday, I feel sad, because he was a great man, some of the few that really help many people.

Rest In Peace Conta.

Some News

I have some good and some bad news:

First, something very sad, the Conta Zapata is, indeed, very sick, the head of UANE suffered a lung struck, and has been in the hospital in a very critical condition. Today UANE is celebrating a mass in the campus to pray for the Conta, the mass will be held at 12:00 pm so if you read this before this hour, your presence will be welcomed.
I, can only say good things about the man, he has always been there for the students with a smile and an authorization, I specially remember his collaboration in the "Saw in UANE" project (posted here), always in a good mood and a friendly smile; I hope that whatever the outcome is, he and his family will be in a better place.

For some better news, classes have started and right now I am teaching some Translation classes, I have also gone to Saltillo to be trained for a Teachers Training Program, it's hard but i think I can pull it off.

The LI second generation is in their final year, good luck and I hope you can take advantage of this final period of your career.

Choose Text for Students Reading

One of the most boring skills for the students to practice is reading, and that's because most of the teachers relay on the reading material that the books provide, therefore, it is imperative that we can find more sources of information, subjects that can be appealing and attractive enough for the students to get interested, so today I will post some criteria to choose text that can be useful and fun:

These texts should

* provide a framework that gradually introduces strategies required for skilled reading
* deal with themes and issues relating to the everyday lives of the readers
* provide opportunities to revisit some subjects, themes and characters
* use a simple language structure, so that students don’t have to review many oral language forms to access meaning
* offer opportunities for exploring language at the text, word, part word, and letter level
* provide opportunities for the acquisition of alphabet letters, letter clusters and common sight words in natural contexts
* present many of the conventions of written language including spelling, punctuation and capitalization
* encourage problem solving on text by having to make analogies, predictions, checking and self-corrections
* have illustrations that give maximum support for the emergent reader, gradually extending experience as reading is more confident
* use appropriate book structure, text size, spacing and layout to match text type, text difficulty and reader skill.

So every time that you want to use a text, try to choose a reading not because it's easy, but because there will be some new things, you and your students will learn.

English day 2007

5 Thoughts about...

5 strong thoughts about teaching English:

1) We have always been the underdogs in education, I think that authorities don't realize the work we do every day, they want us to give results without any kind of help, some schools think we are magicians, and after a long break without English, They want us to take back the classes as if the students had been practicing every day.

2) There are a lot of pseudo-teachers that don't help us increase the reputation of our job, people that are teaching languages just because they know enough to speak it, but lack of the methodology to really make the students learn.

3) English is what makes a difference between a mediocre professional and an outstanding one, we are that part of the career that will make the difference with that "extra" the students have to offer to the company to get the job

4) Foreign teachers are not better than local teachers, they are a good complement to achieve goals, but we are all needed to give the student what they need

5) One of the teachers' most typical mistake is the fact that they want to adapt the students to his/her particular way of teaching, we need to take into consideration the group's personality in order to prepare a good class.

So I say it¡¡

English Phrasal Verbs in Use Advanced
By Michael McCarthy and Felicity O'Dell
Cambridge University Press | ISBN: 978-05-216-8418-7 | 188 pages
PDF | English | 74 MB

This new level of English Phrasal Verbs in Use is specifically designed for advanced level students looking to improve their knowledge of this often difficult area of the English language. English Phrasal Verbs in Use includes many phrasal verbs useful to students preparing for the Cambridge CAE, CPE and IELTS examinations.
This book includes 60 Units Of Vocabulary Reference And Practice; presents and explains approximately 1.000 phrasal verbs in typical contexts using short texts, dialogues, tables and charts; contains answer key and a mini Dictionary with easy to understand definitions and cross references to units in the book.

Full (74 mb):
http://rapidshare.com/files/222174090/English.Phrasal.Verbs.in.Use-Advanced.rar
Reduced (5.6 mb):
http://rapidshare.com/files/222160816/English.Phrasal.Verbs.in.Use-Advanced_small.rar

Didactic Crosswords 1, Level 1
By Edward R. Rosset
Editorial Stanley | ISBN 8478731806 | 44 pages
PDF | English | 8.8 MB

Didactic Crosswords 1 is the first of a collection of five. You will find here, not a test of general knowledge, but a series of basic words in English, the number of which will be increasing as you solve the crosswords. Crosswords ST (Stanley) are, therefore, a didactic pastime.

Download from this link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/224960594/DidacticCrosswords-1.rar

LICENCIATURA DE IDIOMAS 2009 THE 1st GENERATION

I want to open this blog congratulating the first UANE "Licenciatura de Idiomas" generation, they all did a great job, overcame great obstacles, from everywhere, the school, the teachers and sometimes even themselves.

Nevertheless, they did it, I wish they can achieve their goals.

I met them more than two years ago and believe me, they were hardworking, achievers, leaders but rebellious and unsupportive among themselves; I think they have grown up a lot, both in the professional and personal way.

They taught me a lot, and therefore, I extend my gratitude to all of them, I hope we can still be part of each others lives.