Una carta para el cierre anticipado de una biblioteca Querido Señor o Señora, Me llamo Michelle y he vivido en este pueblo toda mi vida. He escrito esta carta por que' oi' que la bibloteca cerrara'. Es un asunto muy importante para mi. He utilizado la biblioteca desde era nina, ahora tengo ventinueve años. La biblioteca era un lugar util e importante para mi desarollo. Si no hubiera una biblioteca en mi infancia creo que no habria leido muchos libros que me ayudaban aprender mas sobre el mundo y la vida. La biblioteca es un lugar importante para la comunidad. Es un lugar para todos. Los jubliados pueden ir a la biblioteca para reunirse y para pedir prestar los libros para tener algo de hacer. Los desempleados pueden ir para usar los ordenadores a buscar trabajo. Padres pueden llevar sus ninos para ensenarlos la importancia de libros y la educacion. Si se trata de dinero le sugiero que limita el horario de apertura. Si quiere ganar dinero le sugiero que abre un cafe en el edificio. Espero que usted pensa mas sobre este asunto. Seria un desastre para la comunidad. Biblotecas son muy importantes. Atentamente, Michelle

Tratar vs. intentar Can they be interchangeable? Are there specific rules?

traducción de un artículo de BBC sobre 'Jihadi John' En inglés: The man named as extremist "Jihadi John" received anger management therapy in his first year of secondary school after getting into fights, a former teacher has said. Mohammed Emwazi, who has been seen in beheading videos of Western hostages, attended Quintin Kynaston school in Queens Park, London, a decade ago. The teacher said he needed help controlling his emotions. But he was regarded as a "success story" after the therapy, she added. Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British man, who is in his mid-20s and from west London, was identified as the person dubbed "Jihadi John" earlier this week. Security services have been criticised for being aware of Emwazi but not preventing him from joining Islamic State. Y ahora voy a intentar traducirlo: El hombre se llama extremista 'Jihadi John' recibió teripia para manejar su ira en su primer año del instituto despues de lucho' en peleas, un ex-profesor dijo. Mohammed Emwazi que se ha visto en los videos de las decapitaciones de rehenes del oeste, iba a Quintin Kynaston instituto en Queens Park, Londres, hace una década. La profesora dijo que él necesito' ayuda de manejar sus emociones. Pero él era considerado como una historia de éxcito después del su terapia, ella añadio'. Emwazi, nacio en Kuwait Britanico, que tiene a mediados de los años veinte y es de londres oeste, se identifico' como la persona se llama 'Jihadi John' a principios de esta semana. Sevicios de seguridad han sido criticados por saber de Emwazi pero no le impedieron de unirse con el estado islámico.

Rock Music

Can anyone recommend some good music?

I'd like to be more immersed.

Doing an online course in your target language?

Have you heard of websites like Coursera (https://www.coursera.org)? You can do courses for free. They have different languages. Currently I'm doing a course in Ancient Egypt delivered in Spanish from a university in Barcelona.

Tips for Teachers

I teach as well as take lessons, like quite a few here. So I think a discussion like this could be useful for people. I'm always open to suggestions, but sometimes it's hard for students to tell teachers something they're doing isn't helpful or is in fact counter productive.

 

If you could give tips to language teachers what would you say?

 

I'd say to check if your students understand something before you explain it, by eliciting from them. I've found it frustrating for the teachers to prepare something, and then spend a good while explaining to me something I already know. I try to give hints by interjecting my knowledge of it, but they continue. I don't mind reviewing things as it can be hard when you're getting to know a student of their complete knowledge, but ask the student to speak and don't just explain, especially if you're explaining it in English.

 

Another tip would be to give students time to respond. Sometimes it takes a minute or more to formulate an answer. So, don't be afraid of silence. Students need to be challenged. If you give the answer straight away then they're not going to learn as well.

 

My third tip would be to try to speak in the target language as much as possible. I understand if you don't understand something the students says or they are a complete beginner then you need some English. Sometimes though I'll be speaking the target language and have them constantly coming back to me in English.

 

Anyway hopefully not sounding negative. I just want to share my experience and hopefully help others. I'd be interested to hear what others say to see if there might be something i'm doing wrong that i've never thought about before.