El Peqeño

¿Tienes un perro? ¿Te gustan los perros?

Antes creía que los grandes eran superiores a los pequeños. Tuve una vez un pastor alemán. Tuve una vez un dalmáta. De las razas españoles, me encanta El Perro de Montaña Los Pirineos de M. Son fuertes, inteligentes y nobles. (El Líder de los Scouts tenía uno muy guapo que se llamaba "Tor.")

Pero mi hijo acaba de "adoptar" un perro pequeño.Es un caniche ( o "poodle")(un "Toy" se reconocen tres variedades de acuerdo a su tamaño: El Estándar, el Miniatura y el Toy).

Y...tengo que confesar que....me encanta. Es una mascota divertida y simpática.

¿Cúal es la raza de perro que más te gusta?

Profesora Julia Loses Her Cool

WARNING - the following posting contains violent images and strong language

When American Journalist Daniel Pearl was murdered, execution style, in Pakistan in 2002, the world watched, quite literally, in horror. I don't mean to minimize this tragedy in any way, but rather to provide a high-profile example of a journalist's death, one that you might remember.

Are you aware of the mounting numbers of journalists murdered and tortured in Juarez Mexico?
(I am grateful to Meredith Levande. She ws the first person to present the topic of "Violence in Juarez" to my students.)

Journalist Killed
NY Times Article 1/16/2010

The gruesome discovery marks the 59th journalist killed in Mexico since 2000, according to Mexico's National Human Rights Commission.

Some of these journalists died while trying to expose violence against women in Ciudad Juarez. Young women are disappearing.

Drug cartels have been emboldened by the U.S. and Colombia's inability to control the situation in that country. They use the mamed bodies of victims to send messages to the authorities and opposing cartels.


SALTILLO -
Brutal, competing drug gangs often send their adversaries grim warnings with written messages, beheadings or dismemberments.

Valdes' body bore five bullet wounds and signs of torture, the prosecutor's office said.">Police on Friday found the body of one of two recently-abducted Mexican journalists in Saltillo, northern Mexico, their newspaper reported online.

The body of Valentin Valdes Espinosa, a local news reporter, lay outside a hotel along with a warning message, in the city in northern Coahuila state, the daily Zocalo Saltillo said on its website.

The text said: "This will happen to those who don't understand," the Coahuila prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Valdes' body bore five bullet wounds and signs of torture, the prosecutor's office said.

Do the big networks like ABC and Fox adequately cover news coming out of South America?

This news from Juarez, news of senseless violence against innocents and media censorship via murder and torture is....
heartbreaking.

The image used is from Eye Magazine, "Femicide posters"

Also see: World Minitor

Just make some "noise"

I think it's safe to say that two of the principals behind Will Smith's success have been
1) his willingness to take risks
2) his work ethic

I admire his work, both on-stage and in the area of charitable giving. One of my favorite television performances was this appearance on the Spanish show "El Fary."



He discusses his latest film projects, Obama's election, and more. If you have time, you might watch the entire show on Youtube (my apologies for the quality of the video here).

Here you can see Will Smith "try" to sing in Spanish (by default, he can rap and make noises and make us laugh).

What I love about this is Will Smith's approach....his spirit...

C'mon now (admit it, you're NOT on television in front of thousands or millions of viewers and yet sometime you might feel hesitant or embarrassed)...just make some noise!

In this older video,Will Smith admits to not understanding Spanish...but he can speak "un poquito."

Breaking Down the Brick Wall

At some point in your study of Spanish you may feel as if you've hit the proverbial "brick wall." This is a time when you feel that no matter what amount of study, number of flash cards, or time watching videos...nothing seems to stick. If you are an adult learner, this feeling is likely to come sooner rather than later (we will talk about critical period in a future post).

I've been there too. Several years ago we hosted a child from Chechnya for the summer (through Project LIfe). Since language books in Chechen are rare (the country's own libraries and universities have been destroyed), I opted to learn some phrases in Russian to prepare for my new son's arrival (Chechen children study Russian and sometimes English).

I started listening to Russian podcasts and I borrowed every book on the Russian language on file with the local library system. I was highly motivated because I felt an enormous burden to keep this child safe...a 9-year-old traveling some 3,000 miles from his home.

I needed to say "mom things" like..."There are bees in the outhouse." "Do you have on clean underwear!" "Careful, hot water!"

I wasn't even trying to learn to read or write Russian (have you seen the their alphabet? Yikes!)

I couldn't do it. Not a single word seemed to stick in my brain.

Until this beautiful, reckless, highly-intelligent child was actually running through the living room could I make any sense of the Russian language. I'll admit, I did go around the county Fair snorting like a pig (it was his first week with us and as a Muslim, he was wary of pork products. I needed to communicate that I was buying all beef hot dogs instead of pork). Privyet!

The Russian word Sabota...Saturday ("I'm sorry, you can't go on the rides until Saturday"...by the time I'd said this word to him 50 times it stuck (for me at least).

How can you invite Spanish into your home? Via TV or the radio? Find a program you really want to understand. Find a neighbor or co-worker who is Spanish-speaking. I once had a student who really liked the music of Daddy Yankee and reggaetón (me too - although sometimes the lyrics and images are "strong"). That was his reason for learning Spanish.

Thankfully, Spanish has many immediate real-world applications. One former student, a criminal justice major, used her Spanish on the job in the first weeks of class. A car had tipped over during her night shift as an EMT and Spanish-speakers were trapped inside. Granted, she didn't know the words yet for "jaws of life" but the words she knew offered those folks comfort.

Break it down!

Meaningful Connection

All words have meaning....a representation in the "real world." The English word "tree" refers to oaks, maples, seedlings, and even family trees. In general, something with roots, a trunk, and a few branches. Meaning is another word for semantics.

All words also have a grammatical function. This is referred to as syntax...sometimes called the "parts of speech." This has to do with the way the word relates to others in a sentence - adjectives amplify nouns, adverbs amplify verbs, etc.

Think about the evolution of the word "google. (or Google with an uppercase "G")"According to Wikipedia, The Oxford English Dictionary lists an older verb 'google' (without initial capital), meaning to bowl a googly in the game of cricket.

Google was once the name of a search engine. It was largely used as a noun. Now it is used as a verb. "I'll just Google it and see what I find."

Language, languages, change. The meaning and usage of words can change. Can you think of other examples?

I've recently been listening to a lecture by Dr. Michael Wesch at the University of Kansas. He urges teachers (and students) to consider two types of meaningful connections in order to foster deep learning.

Notes from his lecture:

Two types of meaning

• Semantic: A word, concept or idea is not just meaningful for what it is, but for how it relates, connecs, and contrsts with other words, concepts and ideas.

• Personal: A person finds his/her own meaning not just in "who they are" but in how they relate, connect, and contrast with other people.

How does this relate to language learning?

Semantic: When you learn a new word in Spanish and what it means, consider its usage and how it contrasts with other words, concepts and ideas.

Make the word personal: insert it in sentences in place of English words. Do you like the way the word sounds? How does it look in your own writing? What would someone think of you if you uttered this word? What does usage of this new word allow you to communicate? (Trust me, I've heard, "una cerveza, por favor, from my students a few times before !)

A Noun by Any Other Name

Each semester I like to, on the very first day, ask my students, "What is a noun?"

Invariably, a student answers, "A person, place or thing."

I smile politely and offer up further questions to challenge that age-old definition and to further the class discussion.

"Sure, but what about vegetables and animals? Aren't those nouns too?"

"And what about emotions or philosophies or ideas? What about love, peace, and joy?"

Would we have to make an exhaustive list of descriptions in order to include the meaning of all nouns? In other words, would we want to say "A noun is a person, place, animal, insect, vegetable, emotion, idea, philosophy...?"

It's time to think about nouns beyond "person, place, or thing."

Here are just a few suggestions...

1. Nouns fit "nicely" in certain spots in sentences. Take the following:

I like__________. Many nouns (or verbs being used as nouns) fit there. I like Spam. I like meatballs, I like bipartisanship.

I like oiuygfdoiuy. (What's that? Well, you might guess that the word is a noun.)

2. Nouns can often be quantified or qualified.

__________ are mean. Tall____________.

Think of this like "Mad Libs"

Bulldogs are mean. Tall buildings, etc.

3. Nouns can often be made plural.

ant-ants, pea - peas

In Spanish, nouns have gender. They are masculine or feminine. The definite article (el or la) listed in front of the noun (any noun) lets you know which gender is assigned.

Please learn these as a pair...el lápiz, el laboratorio, el día, etc.
Don't rely on the word's ending for information about its gender.


Today's tech tip: Try using Google images to search for pictures of a new noun you are learning. What does a "pupitre" look like? I often do this, in English and Spanish, for words that are difficult for me, like those that describe architectural features.